Moderna Covid vaccine outperforms Pfizer in new study conducted in the United States

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new study on Friday that suggests the Moderna Covid vaccine provides better long-term protection against hospitalization than the Pfizer vaccine.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at nearly 3,689 adults who were hospitalized with severe Covid between March 11 and August 15, 2021 — a period that predates and includes the Delta variant’s dominance.

Overall, 12.9 percent had received the Moderna vaccine, 20.0 percent had received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and 3.1 percent had received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Over the course of the study, the Moderna vaccine was 93% effective against hospitalization, while Pfizer was 88% effective and J&J was 68% effective.

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Pfizer’s loss of efficacy against hospitalization was particularly pronounced: it dropped from 91 percent in 14-120 days after vaccination to 77 percent after 120 days.

When comparing the same two periods, Moderna dropped from 93 percent to 92 percent.

A separate analysis of the levels of different types of antibodies elicited by the vaccines, taken from 100 volunteers, was also included in the study.

In comparison to Pfizer and J&J, the Moderna vaccine elicited higher levels of antibodies for a key part of the virus’ spike protein, which it uses to invade cells.

There is mounting evidence that the Moderna vaccine is superior to the Pfizer vaccine, including a study released last week by the CDC.

The reasons aren’t entirely clear, but it could be due to the higher dosage levels — 100 micrograms versus 30 micrograms.

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It could also be due to the difference in dosing intervals between Pfizer and Moderna, with Pfizer shots being given three weeks apart and Moderna shots being given four weeks apart.

On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration convened a meeting of leading independent experts to consider whether third Pfizer doses should be given to the general public, not just immune-compromised people.