The Cambridge, Mass.-based company’s Phase 3 trial will test its experimental inoculation in about 30,000 people at nearly 100 research sites across the country to evaluate whether it can safely and effectively prevent COVID-19 infections.

The participants will receive either the vaccine or a placebo without being told which one they’re getting. Researchers will then track the number of infections among each group as they go through their regular routines.

“We look forward to this trial demonstrating the potential of our vaccine to prevent COVID-19, so that we can defeat this pandemic,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in a statement.

Moderna stock soared as much as 10.6 percent to $80.98 on news of the trial starting Monday.

Moderna’s is the first of four leading vaccine candidates to start US government-backed Phase 3 studies that will play a key role in determining whether they work. But there’s no guarantee that any of them will effectively prevent the deadly COVID-19 bug, which has killed more than 600,000 people worldwide

The vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford is set to start its final round of US trials in August, followed by Johnson & Johnson’s candidate in September and Novavax’s in October.

The Trump administration has pledged up to $4.2 billion to help those companies develop and research the vaccines through Operation Warp Speed, a government initiative to deliver 300 million vaccine doses by January.

Moderna announced Sunday that its funding commitment through the program had grown by up to $472 million, bringing its total award to about $955 million. The company expects it will be able to deliver at least about 500 million doses of its vaccine starting next year.

With Post wires