Early vaccine trial results

There are positive early results from one coronavirus vaccine trial. Early results from biotech company Moderna’s trial show participants developed antibodies against the virus.

If future studies go well, the company's vaccine could be available to the public as early as January 2021, Dr. Tal Zaks, Moderna's chief medical officer, told CNN.

When you're doing these vaccine trials, the first phase is really to study safety, and so far, there have been no serious adverse events, the company says. In these early results, which come from a small number of participants, they also looked at whether people developed antibodies – the body's response to a virus. It’s a good sign that they did.

However, three participants developed fever and and other flu-like symptoms when they received the vaccine at a dose of 250 micrograms. Moderna anticipates the Phase 3 study on dosage will be between 25 and 100 micrograms.

Overall, this is encouraging data, but it is still very early. There is still a process that needs to unfold and more research on this vaccine need to be done. The US Food and Drug Administration has cleared the company to begin Phase 2 trials, which typically involve several hundred people. Moderna plans to start large-scale clinical trials, known as Phase 3 trials, in July, which typically involve tens of thousands of people.