Making Sense of the Latest Coronavirus Vaccine News
A status update on five vaccines under investigation
There are more than 100 vaccines in development for Covid-19, and with any luck, we could have one that works by next year. At least, that’s the goal of Operation Warp Speed, the bold government plan announced by the Trump administration on May 15 to make an effective vaccine available to Americans by January 2021.
Recently, a handful of groups have announced early-stage results for their experimental vaccines. Though encouraging, they still have a lot to prove. Here’s what you need to know about these vaccine candidates.
Moderna
Massachusetts-based Moderna was the first U.S. company to begin a human clinical trial of its Covid-19 vaccine in mid-March. This week, the company provided the first glimpse of the vaccine’s effects in people but was short on details. In 45 participants aged 18 to 55, Moderna said its vaccine produced antibodies, proteins made by the immune system.
In a press release, the company said that eight of those people developed neutralizing antibodies — the specific kind of antibodies that are believed to be needed to prevent infection. We don’t know yet about the other 37 people. STAT’s Helen Branswell points out that testing for neutralizing…
