Moderna’s COVID-19 mRNA vaccine is likely to offer protection to a couple of years, its chief executive said on Thursday, even though more data is still awaited to make a definitive assessment.
The U.S. biotech company, which amazed the world last year by arising with a vaccine against the disease caused by the new coronavirus in only a couple of weeks, received approval for its shot from the European Commission on Wednesday
Given vaccines development and pharmacovigilance usually requires long years, the protection duration of COVID-19 shots is an enduring question for scientists and regulators.
“The nightmare scenario that was described within the media in spring with a vaccine only working a month or two is, I think, out of the window,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said at an occasion organised by financial services group Oddo BHF.
“The antibody decay generated by the vaccine in humans goes down very slowly (…) We believe there’ll be protection potentially for a few years.”
Bancel added his company was about to confirm that its vaccine would also be effective against variants of the coronavirus seen in Britain and South Africa.
The newly developed vaccines should be equally effective against both the variants said the scientists.
