Vaccine experts told STAT that the data Moderna released May 18 from its phase I vaccine trial isn't enough to show whether or not the vaccine will be effective.
Moderna released data from an early trial that showed its vaccine safely created an immune response against COVID-19 in patients, raising hopes for speedy vaccine development.
But Moderna released very little information, and most of what it did release were words and not data, STAT reported. The figures that were released don't mean a lot on their own because critical information needed to interpret the data was withheld.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is conducting the trial alongside Moderna, didn't distribute a media release, a possible sign that the results aren't very significant, according to STAT.
The results also came from just eight people, and the ages of those people weren't revealed. Younger people likely would have had a more positive response than older people, STAT reported.
And the results were released just two weeks after patients received their second dose, too early to know if antibodies will last, experts told STAT.
Some experts told STAT they're concerned that Moderna hasn't released more data on its trial.
In phase II of the trial, Moderna plans to test the vaccine on at least 600 people.
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