LIVE UPDATES: Comparing the Moderna and Pfizer coronavirus vaccines
Separate coronavirus vaccine makers have released extremely promising results from early tests
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Moderna said on Monday its vaccine appears to be over 94% effective, according to preliminary data from the company's still ongoing study. A week ago, competitor Pfizer Inc. announced its own COVID-19 vaccine appeared similarly effective at around 90% in early results— news that puts both companies on track to seek permission within weeks for emergency use in the U.S.
Dr. Stephen Hoge, Moderna's president, welcomed the "really important milestone" but said having similar results from two different companies is what's most reassuring.
Coronavirus Vaccine Fast Facts
Both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines require two shots several weeks apart
Officials hope to have 20 million doses of each vaccine to use sometime in December
"That should give us all hope that actually a vaccine is going to be able to stop this pandemic and hopefully get us back to our lives," Hoge told The Associated Press. "It won't be Moderna alone that solves this problem. It's going to require many vaccines" to meet the global demand, he added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Coronavirus cases topped 11 million in the U.S. over the weekend — 1 million of them recorded in just the past week. The pandemic has killed more than 1.3 million people worldwide, more than 245,000 of them in the U.S.
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