The COVID-19 vaccine of Moderna remains 93 percent effective against the virus for four to six months after the second dose, the company said.
The fresh data is in line with the 94 percent efficacy first found during clinical trials. The vaccine was approved for emergency use by the UAE in June.
Assistant undersecretary at the Ministry of Health and Prevention, Dr. Amin Hussein Al Amiri, said Moderna submitted documents that complied with the country’s procedures and regulations following which local health authorities imported the vaccine.
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Compared to Pfizer-BioNTech, the efficacy of Moderna was found to be much better. Pfizer said last week the efficacy of its vaccine dropped by about 6 percent every two months to roughly 84 percent six months after the second dose.
Moderna Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel said that the Covid-19 vaccine efficacy was stable at 93% from four to six months. He said that strong duration will benefit the hundreds of millions of people who have been administered with the shots.
In the United States Moderna’s vaccine was authorized for emergency use in adults in December and has since been cleared for emergency or conditional use in adults in more than 50 countries including the UAE.
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The company had started the process of filing for full approval with the US Food and Drug Administration in June and expects to finish its submission in August. The approval for the use of the vaccine in the Emirates followed a deal between Moderna and a UAE-based distributor, Magenta Investments.
The vaccine is the fifth one to have been introduced in the UAE after Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, and the Chinese-made Sinopharm. In the country, Sinopharm and Pfizer are the most widely used vaccines.
Moderna uses mRNA technology and contains genetic instructions for the cells to make the coronavirus’ spike protein. (AW)
