Ahighly anticipated clinical trial for a potential COVID-19 vaccine managed in part by the American drug company Moderna has resulted is some adverse effects in more than half of the trial’s participants, with one test group reporting “severe” symptoms.
The trial, which is also being sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, administered the vaccine “as a 0.5-ml injection in the deltoid muscle” in two shots spaced about one month apart. Two separate groups received 25-microgram and 100-microgram doses, respectively. A third group with a 250-microgram dose was subsequently added.
The vaccine “induced anti–SARS-CoV-2 immune responses in all participants,” the research team reported Tuesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers said that “no trial-limiting safety concerns were identified.” Yet a majority of participants still reported at least one side effect.
Hellbound and Down 