A second covid-19 vaccine has shown to be almost 95 per cent effective.
US company Moderna plans to apply for approval for it's vaccine in the coming weeks.
Just a week after Pfizer and BioNTech said their vaccine was over 90 per cent effective, Moderna has published an early analysis of it's trial.
30,000 participants in the US were given two doses of either the vaccine or a placebo four weeks apart.
Of the first 95 people to develop covid symptoms, just five had been given the vaccine, which means it is 94.5 per cent effective.
The news will add to the confidence that a vaccine can help end the pandemic.
It comes at a time when Ireland is experiencing a worrying development. The five day moving average has began to persistently increase.
The average daily number of cases is now 413 compared to 380 just five days ago.
