An early study to determine the safety of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate indicates that the vaccine produces the same level of virus-neutralising antibodies in older adults as in younger adults. The side effects for the potential vaccine were similar to those observed for high-dose flu shots.
According to a Reuters report, the study was an extension of the pharmaceutical company’s Phase I clinical trial, conducted with volunteers between the ages of 18 and 55. Two doses of the Moderna vaccine - 25mg and 100mg - were tested in 40 older adults.
It was observed that the older adults who had received two doses of the 100mg vaccine at a gap of 28 days showed immune responses similar to those observed in young adults.
The findings of the study are reassuring because immunity tends to weaken with age, Dr. Evan Anderson, one of the study’s lead researchers from Emory University in Atlanta, told Reuters. The results of the study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The drugmaker has begun the testing of the higher dose of the vaccine in a large Phase III clinical trial. This will be the vaccine’s final stage trial, after it which it will be ready to seek emergency authorisation.
Side effects observed in the trial were deemed to be mild or moderate. They included headache, chills, fatigue, body aches and injection site pain. However, severe reactions were also reported in two cases.
One of the volunteers, who had received the lower vaccine dose, developed a grade three fever (102.2 degrees fahrenheit or above). Another participant exhibited severe fatigue.
Typically, side effects occurred soon after the administration of the vaccine and resolved quickly, said Dr Anderson. “This is similar to what a lot of older adults are going to experience with the high dose influenza vaccine,” he added. “They might feel off or have a fever.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
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