A U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel recommended emergency use authorization for Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine on Thursday. The decision comes six days after the FDA approved an EUA of the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech.
The EUA for Moderna’s vaccine was granted after the recommendation by the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee on Thursday. The recommendation, which passed with 20 yes votes and one approval, means the Moderna vaccine could be used as early as next week. The panel voted that the benefits of the highly effective Modern vaccine outweighed its risks for people individuals 18 years of age and older.
The panel’s recommendation comes after the United States surpassed 17 million official COVID-19 cases. according to Johns Hopkins University.
The 21-member panel discussed the vaccine’s safety and efficacy and with the recommendation, the shots could get emergency clearance as soon as Friday, The Washington Post reported.
>> FDA authorizes Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine
The FDA, in a report Tuesday, confirmed that in Moderna’s clinical trial, the two-shot regimen was 94% effective at preventing illness and was particularly effective against severe disease, the Post reported.
The recommendation frees up Moderna’s vaccine for shipment.
Just like the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must approve the vaccine before shots can be administered -- and a CDC advisory panel is expected to meet on the matter Saturday, CNN reported.
Gen. Gustave F. Perna, who is overseeing the federal effort to distribute vaccines, said Monday the government was preparing to ship nearly 6 million doses of the Moderna vaccine to 3,285 locations, the Post reported.
“It will be a very similar cadence that was executed this week with Pfizer, where we’re hitting initial sites on Monday, (followed) on Tuesday and Wednesday,” Perna said earlier this week.