Seattle volunteer, UW professor comment on Moderna COVID-19 vaccine

SEATTLE, Wash. — A Seattle man is one of the volunteers who risked his life to test the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

Neal Browning, the second volunteer to receive an injection in the trial, said there’s no virus in the vaccines, so there’s no way to catch COVID-19 from it.

The vaccine is being touted as over 94% effective, and easier to transport than other vaccines in testing.

Genetic information called messenger RNA is used in the vaccine to help the body trigger an immune response.

But University of Washington Bothell professor Dan Bustillos told KIRO there are still a lot of questions about the vaccine, including how long the protection lasts and the impact on different groups.

Moderna expects to have 20 million doses ready by the end of the year, after requesting emergency use authorization from the FDA.