The interim results from the vaccine’s phase 3 trial followed similar news from Pfizer and BioNTech earlier this month, which showed their jab was 90% effective against the coronavirus.

Moderna said it was planning on applying for emergency-use authorisation with US authorities in the coming weeks. The vaccine is being trialled in more than 30,000 volunteers.

The good news saw Luxembourg’s LuxX index climb 4.27% on Monday by 3.20pm while the CAC40 benchmark French stock market index added 2.34%. The FTSE100 response was somewhat more muted at 1.82%. The DAX30 in Frankfurt rallied 1.24% with the BEL20 in Brussels adding 2.57%.

In the US--the first beneficiary of the Moderna vaccine--the Nasdaq added 9.01% when Wall Street opened for business.

Moderna said it would have 20 million jabs ready to be shipped before the end of 2020, hoping to produce between 500 million and 1 billion doses globally next year.

The European Commission--which is procuring the vaccine for member countries--is yet to sign a contract with the biotech firm but in preliminary talks aimed at securing 80 million doses with the option of buying another 80 million.

Luxembourg is set to receive 420,000 vaccine doses in a first phase through the commission programme, which includes already signed agreements with Pfizer and BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Sanofi-GSK and Jannsen Pharmaceutica.

Health minister Paulette Lenert (LSAP) expects the first jabs to be delivered to Luxembourg during the first quarter of 2021, she said in answer to a parliamentary question on 12 November. A working group is establishing a plan on how to roll out the vaccine, she said, discussing who will get the jab first but also who has to pay for it.

Between 60-70% of the population need to be immune against the virus for herd immunity to fully work, Lenert said. However, lower rates of immunity could already have a positive effect on preventing the spread of the virus, the health minister added.