Not only 18-55 year-olds, but also 56-year-olds respond well to Moderna’s corona vaccine. You can cautiously conclude that on the basis of a small phase 1 study.
The results are in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. 40 healthy volunteers aged 56 and older participated in the study. The vaccine was tested in ascending dose, without a control group of people with a placebo (fake drug). Even though the study was small and uncontrolled – it appears to be safe in these 56-somethings. People had some mild side effects and the immune system did indeed spring into action, as hoped. The immune response was as high as in another research group aged 18 to 55, where the vaccine has already been tested more widely.
How does it work?
The Moderna vaccine (technical name mRNA-1273) has a novel mechanism of action. These types of vaccines have not yet been widely given to humans, so the safety studies are extra important. This mRNA vaccine contains a kind of ‘building instruction’ for a spine on the outside of the coronavirus. The human body will use the building instructions to make proteins itself, such as those of the corona spines. The immune system sees the spine proteins and remembers them. If the virus enters, it is quickly cleared up.
New species
The vaccine is in the leading group of corona vaccines that are now being developed. The vaccine from Pfizer and that from CureVac are also mRNA vaccines. US President Donald Trump hopes that the Moderna vaccine will be ready for the November elections, but Moderna estimates that it will be early 2021. The Netherlands already has 3 million doses purchased this vaccine.
