BEAUMONT, Texas — This weeks, there is a hint of optimism in the fight against coronavirus as new case numbers continue to rise.
Moderna, a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company, said their vaccine appears to be 94.5 percent effective, and this is not the first vaccine candidate to promise results.
Pfizer and Moderna could be on track to get permission within weeks for emergency use of their vaccines, which is promising news after another record-breaking weekend in which COVID-19 cases surpassed 11 million in the U.S.
Moderna expects to be able to offer 20 million doses of the vaccine once the FDA gives it a seal of approval, and Pfizer is also hoping for approval from the FDA and promises 20 million doses of its vaccine by the end of 2020.
Both companies claim their vaccines are effective after early test results. Doctors in Texas said Moderna's vaccine may be better suited to serve rural counties.
John Henderson is President and CEO of the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals. He said rural counties in Texas have been hit hard.
He thinks people just felt safer in those areas.
"Either that their social distancing is easier in those lower-populated areas or just skepticism that an illness in an urban area will get to their small town," Henderson said.
Pfizer's vaccine has an extremely cold storage requirement, while Moderna's does not, possibly making it more accessible to areas that may not have the equipment to meet those requirements.
"The Moderna seems to be even better news than we got last week because rural hospitals, if they've got 30 days, you know, it's not going to take that long to use it," Henderson said.
Doctors in Southeast Texas are also weighing in. They said Moderna's vaccine may be better suited for rural areas.
Dr. Msonthi Levine said it's possible that vaccines from both Moderna and Pfizer will be used if they're approved.
"Both sound like they're very effective and both sound like they will be used," Dr. Levine said. "But probably the one that's more durable, more flexible, obviously that's going to be one that's easy to use and probably will be distributed to more people in those tough, tough areas."