The 海角视频 received its first shipment of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine with the jab first rolled out in Wales and the first doses administered in England on April 13, 2021.
With 17 million doses ordered by the Government, the US vaccine has been approved for use in the 海角视频 and is the third to be rolled out after the and Pfizer jabs.
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The vaccine received funding from two US federal agencies – the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
Dolly Parton is credited with helping fund the jab after donating one million dollars (about £716,000) to Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in Nashville, Tennessee, which participated in the research.
The singer broadcast herself receiving the jab on social media, adapting one of her most famous hits for the occasion.
To the tune of Jolene, Parton sang: “Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, I’m begging of you, please don’t hesitate. Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, because once you’re dead, then that’s a bit too late.”
Where the Moderna Vaccination is being manufactured
Most of the vaccine developed by the US biotech company is produced at its base in Cambridge, Massachusetts alongside manufacturing partners, including Lonza and finish and fill facilities by Catalent in Indiana.
Outside of the USA
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Lonza has sites in the US and Switzerland and is helping Under the terms of the agreement, the companies plan to establish manufacturing suites at Lonza’s facilities in the United States and Switzerland as part of a ten year plan. The partnership intends to establish additional production suites across Lonza’s worldwide facilities, supplying 1 billion doses of vaccine per year worldwide
Recipharm's drug manufacturing site in France is for countries outside of the US.
In Spain, pharmaceutical lab has installed a new production line for filling and packaging of millions of doses of Moderna’s vaccine to supply markets outside the U.S.A.
What we know about the Moderna Vaccine
How effective is it against coronavirus?
The phase three results suggested vaccine efficacy against the disease was 94.1%, and vaccine efficacy against severe Covid-19 was 100%.
More than 30,000 people in the US took part in the trial, from a wide range of age groups and ethnic backgrounds.
Two doses were given 28 days apart so researchers could evaluate safety and any reaction to the vaccine.
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The analysis was based on 196 cases, of which 185 cases of Covid-19 were observed in the placebo group versus 11 cases observed in the active vaccine group.
Moderna also released data relating to severe cases.
All 30 severe cases occurred in the placebo group and none in the group which had received the vaccine, known as mRNA-1273.
How does the vaccine work?
The Moderna jab is a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine.
Conventional vaccines are produced using weakened forms of the virus, but mRNAs use only the virus’s genetic code.
An mRNA vaccine is injected into the body, where it enters cells and tells them to create antigens.
These antigens are recognised by the immune system and prepare it to fight coronavirus.
No actual virus is needed to create an mRNA vaccine.
This means the rate at which the vaccine can be produced is accelerated.
Is the vaccine safe?
Moderna said the vaccine was generally well tolerated, with no serious safety concerns identified.
Severe events after the first dose included injection-site pain, and after the second dose included fatigue, myalgia (muscle pain), arthralgia (joint pain), headache, other pain and redness at the injection site.
But these were generally shortlived.
Is the Moderna vaccine effective against variants?
In late January, the company behind the vaccine said it was effective against both the strain first detected in south east England and the mutation which first emerged in South Africa.
Moderna said laboratory tests found no significant impact on antibodies against the 海角视频 variant relative to prior variants.
While there was a six-fold reduction in neutralising antibodies produced against the South African variant, the levels remained above those that are expected to be protective, Moderna said.