On Friday, the FDA authorized Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use, offering a new source of hope in the country’s fight against the pandemic. Moderna’s vaccine is the second authorized for emergency use in the US, after the Pfizer vaccine he was given the green light last week.
The Modern vaccine has been authorized for people over 18 years of age. Six million initial doses will soon be shipped nationwide.
“With the availability of two vaccines now for the prevention of COVID-19, the FDA has taken another crucial step in the fight against this global pandemic that is causing a large number of hospitalizations and deaths in the United States every day.” FDA commissioner Stephen Hahn said in a press release announcing the decision.
The announcement comes one day after one an advisory panel is recommended authorize the vaccine. The advisory committee on vaccines and related biological products voted 20-0, with one abstention, in support of the vaccine.
Modern said it plans to provide about 20 million doses of the vaccine by the end of the year and said it expects between 85 and 100 million doses to be available in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2021.
The Modern vaccine is expected to be around 94.1% effective, similar to the Pfizer vaccine. But unlike the Pfizer vaccine, the Moderna vaccine does not need to be stored at sub-zero temperatures.
Both vaccines require two doses. The second dose of Pfizer should be given 21 days after the first, while Moderna is given 28 days after the first.
“I am proud of what the Moderna team has achieved in collaboration with our partners,” CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a press release. “We were able to create and manufacture the Modern COVID-19 vaccine in 11 months from sequence to authorization, advancing in clinical development with a phase 1, phase 2 and phase 3 study of 30,000 participants.”
Moderna’s authorization comes amid a massive vaccination campaign. The first Americans received the Pfizer vaccine on Monday, as the company worked to ship about 3 million initial doses to more than 600 locations across the country.
One of the first doses she went to a critical care nurse in New York. Prior to public vaccination, Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the vaccine “the weapon that will end the war.”
“This is the beginning of the last chapter of the book,” he said.
A health worker she said she can “see the light at the end of the tunnel” now that she has been vaccinated. Another said the vaccine will allow her to hug her mother for the first time in ten months.
As of Friday, at least 50,000 Americans have been vaccinated, many of whom are health workers fighting on the front lines of the pandemic. Millions more doses are expected by the end of the year and the U.S. aims to give 100 million Americans the first dose of vaccine before April.
But the deployment of vaccines has not gone without controversy. More than ten states have said they have been told they will receive fewer doses of the Pfizer vaccine next week than planned. Some states say they will now receive 40% less doses than expected.
To deepen public confidence in the vaccine, Vice President Mike Pence received publicly its first dose Friday before. President-elect Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will be vaccinated on Monday and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and her husband will follow up a week later. At least 42 members of Congress, included Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have also been vaccinated.
Authorization also comes when the nation reports startling hospitalizations and deaths from the virus. In California, only 2% of the state’s ICU beds are available, and in Southern California, there is not a single open ICU bed. The Institute for Health Metrics and Assessment now predicts that more than 560,000 people across the country will have died of the virus on April 1st.
President Trump reacted to the news about the vaccine Twitter, writing “Congratulations, the Modern vaccine is now available!” President-elect Biden also issued a statement, in writing that the authorization of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines “assures us that brighter days await us.”
Mola Lenghi, Carter Evans and Stephen Sanchez helped report.