COVID-19 vaccine
COVID-19 vaccineiStock

US-based pharmaceutical giant Moderna claimed Monday that its coronavirus vaccine is 94.5% effective against the coronavirus – a claim which, if confirmed, would make the vaccine more effective than a vaccine developed by rival company Pfizer.

"These are obviously very exciting results," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, according to CNN. "It's just as good as it gets -- 94.5% is truly outstanding."

Last week, Pfizer and BioNTech claimed that their coronavirus vaccine is 90% effective – that is, after two doses were administered, the group exposed to the vaccine had 90% fewer symptomatic cases of the coronavirus as compared to the control group.

The Moderna tests included 30,000 participants, half of whom were given a placebo, and half of whom were given the vaccine. Of the control group, 90 became infected with the coronavirus, including 11 with severe cases of the virus.

In the vaccinated group, just five people were infected with coronavirus, and none developed serious cases of the illness.

Both Moderna and Pfizer have signed deals to supply Israel with coronavirus vaccines, once the testing phase has been completed and the vaccines approved for general use.