The biotech company Moderna said it would apply for emergency use authorization for its vaccine on Monday.
Two weeks ago, the company announced that its vaccine is 94.5% effective in a study of more than 30,000 volunteers. The announcement came one week after rival firm Pfizer announced a vaccine with 90 percent efficacy.
The company made headlines again after it was revealed that Dolly Parton donated $1 million to help Moderna develop the coronavirus vaccine
Said Stéphane Bancel, chief executive officer of Moderna in a statement: “This positive primary analysis confirms the ability of our vaccine to prevent COVID-19 disease with 94.1% efficacy and importantly, the ability to prevent severe COVID-19 disease. We believe that our vaccine will provide a new and powerful tool that may change the course of this pandemic and help prevent severe disease, hospitalizations and death.”
Over the weekend, a plane loaded with Pfizer’s vaccine reportedly arrived at Chicago’s O’Hare airport: “The very first batch of COVID-19 vaccines arrived at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on a United Airlines flight from Brussels, Belgium, NBC News has learned. … However, it remained unclear how many doses were on board or when exactly the cargo shipment arrived at O’Hare. United Airlines didn’t confirm any details about the flight, but in a statement said, ‘United Cargo established a COVID Readiness Task Team earlier this summer to help ensure we have the right people, products, services, and partnerships in place to support a vaccine distribution effort on a global scale.'”
