Is the Moderna vaccine available privately in the UK?

November 2020 | Reading time: 2 minutes

Currently, the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19 is still undergoing testing, however, early studies are looking promising with a reported 94.5% effectiveness. See press release.

The study still has not been reviewed by outside experts, so is in a similar potion to the Pfizer vaccine which recently reported a slightly lower 90% effectiveness.

Moderna started their clinical trials in March 2020 just two months after the genetic sequence of the virus was published.

The company have said they can have 20 million doses ready by the end of 2020 and up to 1 billion by the end of 2021. Both of the gene-based vaccines require two doses.

The UK has bought 5 million doses of the Moderna Vaccine and 10 million of the BioNtech, which is enough to treat 5 million and 2.5 million people respectively.

When the vaccine is distributed the most vulnerable UK residents will be the first to receive it. This includes:

• All those aged 80 and over and health and social care workers, though they may move up the list
• Anyone 75 years of age and over
• People aged 70 and over
• All those aged 65 and over
• High-risk adults under 65 years of age
• Moderate-risk adults under 65 years of age
• All those aged 60 and over
• All those 55 and over
• All those aged 50 and over
• The rest of the population, with priority yet to be determined

Are there any side-effects?

Based on the early trials, some patients reported headaches and pain around the injection site. No serious side-effects have been reported thus far.

Will the Moderna vaccine be available privately?

The Moderna vaccine will most likely be available privately when there is sufficient availability. As with any other vaccine, there is a demand for private administration from those who don’t qualify or don’t wish to wait.