Moderna Vaccine

See: https://www.modernatx.com/sites/default/files/content_documents/mRNA-1273-Update-11-16-20-Final.pdf 

The Moderna vaccine is called mRNA-1273.  They did a Phase III study of approximately 30,000 subjects.  It doesn't give exact number or how many were in the control group but it is says it was "A Phase 3, Randomized, Stratified, Observer-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study", so assume 50%.

There were 95 cases of Covid, with 90 in the control group and 5 in the vaccine group, so an efficacy rate of 94.5% (90/95).  There were 11 severe cases of Covid, none in the vaccinated group.

To state it a different way, if you don't take the vaccine, you have a 99.93% chance of not developing a severe case of Covid.  If you do take the vaccine, you have a 100% chance of not developing a severe case of Covid.

Questions?

1. Side effects?  Grade 3 (severe) events greater than or equal to 2% in frequency after the first dose included injection site pain (2.7%), and after the second dose included fatigue (9.7%), myalgia (8.9%), arthralgia (5.2%), headache (4.5%), pain (4.1%) and erythema/redness at the injection site (2.0%).

2. Does this actually prevent infection, or prevent the recipient from being infectious?  No information, other than what was stated.  The study was about "mRNA-1273's efficacy and its ability to prevent infection or mitigate symptoms of COVID-19".  As stated, the mRNA-1273 seems to be 100% effective in preventing severe cases of Covid (compared to the Pfizer vaccine which is 99.995% effective).

3. Does the Moderna vaccine have to be stored at -70 degrees Celsius?  No.  mRNA-1273 remains stable at -20° C (-4°F) for up to six months, at refrigerated conditions (2 to 8 degrees Celsius) for up to 30 days and at room temperature for up to 12 hours.  This is much less fragile than the Pfizer vaccine.

So same analysis.  I don't see the harm in taking it, and you will feel like superman or superwoman after you do, so if you want to take it, do so.  However, it is much more likely that you will develop side effects if you take it, than you will contract a serious case of Covid if you don't.

========================

A lot of Moderna participants had severe side effects.

At least two manufacturers, Cambridge, Mass.-based Moderna and CanSino, a Chinese vaccine maker, stopped testing the highest doses of their Covid-19 vaccines because of the number of severe adverse events recorded among participants in their clinical trials. The Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine, which uses a harmless-to-humans virus that infects chimpanzees as its backbone, saw adverse events reported by 60% of recipients in its early phase trial, reported last week in the journal The Lancet. Half of patients who got the highest dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine — which like Moderna’s is a messenger RNA vaccine — reported side effects.  https://www.statnews.com/2020/07/27/covid-19-vaccines-may-cause-mild-side-effects-experts-say-stressing-need-for-education-not-alarm/

I'll pass.  I don't want to take the risk of having a severe side effect, which would be similar to the symptoms you get if you actually get Covid.  The only reason for taking it is to avoid getting a severe case of Covid and if you are unvaccinated, you have a 99.93% chance of not getting a severe case.

======================================

"It also remains unclear if those who have received the [Moderna] vaccine can still spread the virus." https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/9/modernas-vaccine-what-you-need-to-know-in-500-words

Thank you, that is one of my questions.  The Moderna vaccine may prevent you from being infected but it may not necessarily prevent you from infecting someone else.  In other words, you may be a asymptomatic carrier.  If it doesn't prevent you from infecting others, then all this talk about herd immunity is pointless.