Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine has an efficacy of 94.5%, according to the company.

UNITED STATES (CNN) – According to the company’s first data published by the company on Monday, the Modern vaccine is 94.5% effective against coronavirus.

“These are very exciting results,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease physician. “It’s as good as it sounds: 94.5% is truly exceptional”.

Moderna is the second U.S. pharmaceutical company to announce the efficacy results of its covid-19 vaccine. Last week, Pfizer said that early data show its vaccine is more than 90% effective against the disease. Both vaccines use genetic material called messenger RNA to activate the body’s immune system. Neither vaccine currently on the market uses messenger RNA.

Fauci’s agency, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, collaborated with Moderna to develop the vaccine.

According to the company, Moderna’s results showed that the vaccine protected people from both mild and severe forms of covid-19.

An independent panel has reviewed the results called the Data and Safety Monitoring Board.

In Moderna’s trial, 15,000 study participants were given a placebo, an injection of saline with no effect. Over several months, 90 of these people developed covid-19.

Moderna plans to apply to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve its vaccine shortly after it accumulates more safety data later this month.

Fauci says she expects the first vaccinations to begin “by the end of December, rather than the beginning of December”.