Rutgers’ principal investigator for the Moderna phase 3 coronavirus vaccine clinical trial at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School is available to discuss the drugmaker’s vaccine, which the company has announced is 94.5 percent effective.

Moderna intends to seek an emergency use authorization for the vaccine from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“It is really exciting news,” said Shobha Swaminathan, an associate professor at Rutgers NJMS and medical director of infectious diseases practice at University Hospital in Newark. “There were 95 confirmed cases of coronavirus, of which 90 were in the placebo group and only five in the vaccine group. None of the vaccine recipients had severe disease as compared to 11 cases of severe disease in the placebo arm.”

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Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS) takes an integrated approach to educating students, providing clinical care and conducting research, all with the goal of improving human health. Aligned with Rutgers University–New Brunswick, and collaborating university-wide, RBHS includes eight schools, a behavioral health network and four centers and institutes. RBHS offers an outstanding education in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, public health, nursing, biomedical research and the full spectrum of allied health careers. RBHS clinical and academic facilities are located throughout the state.