Pharmaceutical giant Moderna, one of the participants in the manufacture of a cure against the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), has sought the approval of the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States for the endorsement of its vaccine to the public.

This after clinical studies showed that its vaccine is 94% effective at protecting people from contracting COVID-19.

Regulators were said to look at trial data for Moderna’s vaccine and decide if safe and effective enough to recommend for public use.

The US Food and Drug Administration, on the other hand, would consider Moderna’s application during its upcoming meeting on December 17.

Moderna’s vaccine has been tried on 30,000 volunteers including high-risk groups like the elderly who suggested it worked.

During the trial, 15,000 people received the real vaccine while other participants got placebo injections. No serious side effects were reported during the test.

However, 185 people in the placebo group fell ill with COVID-19 and some even went to severe cases, while 11 cases were reported in the vaccine group but none was severe.

University of Reading biomedical technology associate professor Alexander Edwards was quoted as saying in a report from BBC: “This is great news indeed – the more trial data that we have, the greater confidence we have that vaccines can be used to blunt the human cost of COVID-19.”

“As the numbers of cases reported grows, confidence grows that this amazing protection will be maintained in a product that can be rolled out to protect the public,” he added.

Moderna joins other frontrunners Pfizer and AstraZeneca in the production of vaccines against the virus.

Pfizer has already applied for regulator’s approval earlier this week after giving its jabs a 95% efficacy rate.

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca has an effectivity rate of 70%, although, among a set of volunteers given a lower dose, the efficacy rose to 90%.

An efficacy rate of 70% is already enough to be very useful during a pandemic, especially that AstraZeneca’s vaccines no longer need ultra-cold freezers that are necessary for Pfizer and Moderna.

Another vaccine, called Sputnik V, has been approved in Russia in August. Trials were so far promising and had not reported any serious side effects on volunteers.

Like AstraZeneca, the Sputnik V vaccine also does not require a sub-zero temperature and can be stored only in a regular fridge.

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