Toronto Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa is hopeful a COVID-19 vaccine will be available within the first three months of 2021.
The city’s top doctor made the comment during a Toronto Board of Health meeting on Monday after U.S. biotech company Moderna said its COVID-19 vaccine appears to be 94.5 per cent effective, according to early data from an ongoing study.
The Moderna vaccine is among those the federal government has pre-ordered for Canadians, pending Health Canada approvals.
De Villa said in the meeting that early delivery of the vaccine would first be administered to “highest risk populations” and specific sub-populations identified by the province.
“It will take time before broader public access will be available,” she said.
On Monday morning, Moderna said it has tested the vaccine on over 30,000 participants, and recorded a 94.5 per cent efficacy rate two weeks after the second dose of the vaccine was administered.
The efficacy rate is similar to another vaccine trial by pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which released preliminary data last week that showed a 90 per cent efficacy rate in a trial involving 43,538 participants.
Canada has already ordered up to 56 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine, with a firm commitment on at least 20 million. COVID-19 vaccines require two doses, and so the order could vaccinate up to 28 million people.
Moderna said in a press release that two weeks after administration of the second dose, 95 COVID-19 cases were detected. All but five of the confirmed cases were among participants who received the placebo instead of the real vaccination.
Moderna also stated that all 11 of the severe cases of COVID-19 were among the placebo participants.
The results also suggest that the vaccine is effective among older populations and people from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Participants included 7,000 people over the age of 65, more than 5,000 people especially vulnerable to the virus, such as those with high-risk chronic diseases, and more than 11,000 people from communities of colour.
An additional press release from Moderna stated the vaccine could be kept in a conventional freezer for up to six months and, once thawed, could remain stable at regular refrigerator temperatures for up to 30 days.
This is a major advancement compared with the Pfizer vaccine. Health officials voiced concerns about required storage conditions at -75 C, much colder than any freezer in a doctor’s office, lab or pharmacy.
The press release also stated that efficacy may change as more cases are detected among participants leading up to the final analysis.
Chief executive officer of Moderna, Stéphane Bancel, said in a statement that they plan on submitting the virus for an Emergency Use Approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, along with regulatory filings in other countries around the world.
