WBTV’s Caroline Hicks interviewed Tryon Medical Partners’ Dr. Ryan Shelton about the recent news that Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is reported to be 94.5% effective. Tryon Medical was one of only 87 locations in the country to participate in Phase 3 trials of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
Highlights of the WBTV story are below. Click here for the full story on WBTV.com.
- One week after Pfizer announced early data showed its trial vaccine was 90% effective in preventing COVID-19, Moderna announced a 94.5% effectiveness. That percentage sounds high, and according to experts, it is.
- “The flu vaccine is usually around 45 to 60 percent effective,” said Dr. Ryan Shelton, from Tryon Medical Partners. “Rarely is a vaccine that high.”
- Tryon Medical Partners enrolled 460 people in the Moderna trial in Charlotte.
- “I hope that we’re able to get the Moderna vaccine here sooner because we participated in the trial, that’s no guarantee,” Dr. Shelton said.
- Moderna announced that out of 30,000 total participants, 95 people developed symptomatic COVID-19. There were no reports of serious side effects. All 11 cases of severe illness were in the placebo group.
- “The vaccines are not here yet,” Dr. Shelton said. “We still have to be doing masks, social distancing, not doing large gatherings, washing our hands, all the same things we’re been hearing about and hopefully doing.”