Coronavirus vaccine showing positive results in older adults

A shot created by Moderna, an American biotechnology company focused on drug discovery, drug development and vaccine technologies based exclusively on messenger RNA, created an immune response in participants over the age of 55.

Moderna published a report Wednesday detailing updates on their vaccine.

Vaccine mRNA-1273 is being tested to see if it can be effective in producing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This way, the virus would not cause illness.

Vaccines are typically made from inactive particles or proteins from the virus or bacteria they are meant to prevent.

According to the CDC, vaccines build immunity in patients by imitating an infection. With inactive particles, the infection doesn’t cause illness, but instead causes the immune system to produce T-lymphocytes and antibodies. Should the targeted infection enter the body in the future, the immune system will have a supply of “memory” T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes to fight it.

Other types of vaccines include live, attenuated vaccines that contain a version of the living but weakened virus or bacteria, toxoid vaccines that prevent diseases caused by bacteria that produces toxins (poison) in the body, subunit vaccines that contain only parts of the virus or bacteria, not the whole germ and conjugate vaccines that fight bacteria that have antigens with a coating that conceals the antigen and make it hard for the immune system to recognize it as bacteria.

Moderna’s vaccine is not made from a version of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Instead, it is made from “messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), a genetic code that tells cells how to make protein, which helps the body’s immune system make antibodies to fight the virus.”

Moderna’s vaccine cannot make someone sick with COVID-19, but it has shown symptoms such as chills, fever, fatigue, headache and muscle pain. Similar symptoms can also be caused by other vaccines as well.

As of August 21, there were a total of 13,194 participants enrolled in the COVE Phase 3 study from Moderna.

In early August, Moderna Inc. signed an agreement with the U.S. government to supply 100 million doses of the vaccine for $1.525 billion.

Moderna’s new data for older adults receiving the vaccine shows that antibody levels were comparable to those in younger adults.

By September, Moderna hopes to have 30,000 participants enrolled in their Phase 3 trial.

News on whether the vaccine will be effective at fighting COVID-19 could be available by late fall.