Everything we know about Moderna jab as third vaccine with 94% efficacy approved for use in UK

The jab from US biotech firm Moderna has been given the green light by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), joining the vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca.

But unlike the previous jabs, the Moderna vaccine will not be available for use straight away, with the first doses not expected to arrive until the spring.

The Government also purchased an additional 10 million doses of the vaccine on top of its previous order of seven million, taking the total to 17 million.

Supplies will begin to be delivered to the UK from spring once Moderna expands its production capability, the Department of Health and Social Care said.

The MHRA accepted the recommendation of the Commission on Human Medicines and authorised the Moderna vaccine following months of rigorous clinical trials and extensive analysis of the vaccine’s safety, quality and effectiveness.

The jab is 94 per cent effective in preventing disease, including in the elderly.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted that the approval was “excellent news”, saying: “Our national vaccine effort is accelerating to vaccinate priority groups with our existing two vaccines, and the Moderna doses will add to that when they become available in spring.”

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This is fantastic news and another weapon in our arsenal to tame this awful disease.

“Through our vaccine delivery plan, we have already vaccinated nearly 1.5 million people across the UK.

“The Moderna vaccine will boost our vaccination programme even further once doses become available from the spring.

“While we immunise those most at risk from Covid, I urge everyone to continue following the rules to keep cases low to protect our loved ones.”

The authorisation comes just days after the end of the Brexit transition period, and two days after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended granting a conditional marketing authorisation for the jab for adults.

As part of the transition period, until the end of December 2020, Covid-19 vaccine candidates authorised via the EMA would have automatically been valid in the UK.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the Moderna vaccine will be available for free and the Government is working with the devolved administrations to ensure it is deployed fairly across the UK.

Like the other two vaccines, the Moderna vaccine will be deployed through hospital hubs for NHS and care staff and older patients to get vaccinated, through local community services with local teams and GPs, and through vaccination centres across the country.

Deputy chief medical officer for England Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said: “The highly effective Moderna vaccine is another impressive success for science and is another testament to the hard work of researchers and selfless clinical trial volunteers.

“This vaccine will save lives once doses become available, but it is crucial we all continue to follow the rules to protect each other until enough people have been protected.”

Nearly 1.5 million people in the UK have already been vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccines.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) will submit updated advice on which groups to prioritise for vaccination before doses become available.

Stephane Bancel, chief executive officer of Moderna, said: “We appreciate the confidence shown by the UK MHRA in Covid-19 vaccine Moderna with this decision – which marks an important step forward in the global fight against Covid-19.

“I want to thank the MHRA and the Commission on Human Medicines’ reviewers for their tireless efforts.

“The authorisation of a product developed by Moderna is a significant milestone on the company’s 10-year journey, and I would like to thank all our colleagues that have helped us get to this point.”

Vaccines are already being rolled out to those considered to be most vulnerable, according to a priority list guided by the JCVI.

The nine categories in phase one of the vaccination programme cover some 30 million people in the UK.

Mr Johnson has said the aim is to vaccinate 15 million people in the UK by mid-February, and officials hope to have inoculated all those in phase one by the spring.

The UK has now ordered 367 million doses of vaccines to protect against Covid-19.

This includes the Moderna doses – enough to vaccinate 8.5 million people – which are expected to be released in phases.

Like the Pfizer/BioNTech, the Moderna jab is an RNA jab which injects part of the virus’s genetic code in order to provoke an immune response.

It can be stored at temperatures of around minus 20C, compared to Pfizer/BioNTech’s minus 70C.

Professor of molecular virology, University of Nottingham, Jonathan Ball said: “It’s great news that another vaccine has been approved to help in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

“It is unclear when it will become available for distribution, but like the other mRNA vaccine, which is made by Pfizer, the reported effectiveness of the Moderna vaccine is very impressive.

“In an ideal world we would be able to prioritise the use of the mRNA vaccines to protect those most vulnerable from severe Covid disease, and the fact that the Moderna vaccine can be stored at minus 20 degrees, rather than minus 70 for the Pfizer vaccine, will help overcome some of the logistical challenges faced by the mRNA vaccines.

“We desperately need an effective vaccination programme so the more options available the better.”

Trials of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine suggest it is 94 per cent effective against Covid-19.

Furthermore, no person who was vaccinated with the jab, known as mRNA-1273, developed severe coronavirus.

US firm Moderna has said its trial results indicate the jab is generally well tolerated with no serious safety concerns.

– How does the Moderna vaccine work?

The Moderna vaccine works in a very similar way to the jab from Pfizer/BioNTech.

Coronavirus is studded with “spike proteins” that it uses to enter human cells. Covid-19 vaccines target this spike protein.

The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA), a genetic material that contains information about the spike protein.

The vaccines provide the body with instructions to produce a small amount of this protein which, once detected by the immune system, leads to a protective antibody response.

Moderna’s vaccine does not require the same ultracold storage as Pfizer’s and can remain stable at normal fridge temperature for 30 days.

– How effective is it?

Trials on more than 30,000 people in the US have shown the Moderna jab to be 94 per cent effective in preventing coronavirus.

While this efficacy may drop over time, scientists have said the vaccine should protect against around nine in 10 cases of Covid-19.

Moderna has not identified any significant safety concerns and its vaccine has been approved for use in the US.

– What about antibodies and T-cells?

The Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines have been shown to provoke both an antibody and T-cell response.

Antibodies are proteins that bind to the body’s foreign invaders and tell the immune system that it needs to take action.

T-cells are a type of white blood cell which hunt down infected cells in the body and destroy them.

Nearly all effective vaccines induce both an antibody and a T-cell response.

– When will the Moderna vaccine arrive in the UK?

The Government has signed a deal for 17 million doses of the Moderna vaccine for the UK.

That is enough for around 8.5 million people, who will each receive two doses of the vaccine.

According to the Government, Moderna is currently scaling up its European supply chain which means these doses would become available in the UK in the spring.

– Can this vaccine help the elderly?

There have been concerns that a Covid-19 vaccine will not work as well on elderly people, much like the annual flu jab.

But data from Moderna suggests the jab is highly effective in preventing people getting ill and works across all age groups, including the elderly.

The Pfizer and AstraZeneca jabs have also been shown to work effectively in the elderly.