Coronavirus: Moderna vaccine nears EUA

Moderna’s COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273, may be reaching patients soon.

The vaccine showed an efficacy of 94.1 percent with 100 percent efficacy against severe COVID-19 and low frequency of serious adverse events, according to documents released by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in advance of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee meeting Dec. 17.

Previously, the company reported that they expect to have 20 million doses available by the end of the year and a further 500 million to one billion doses in 2021.

If the EUA is granted, Moderna will join Pfizer and BioNTech in supplying the drugs to the U.S. government. Pfizer’s EUA was granted late Dec. 11 after President Donald J. Trump’s staff ordered FDA Commissioner Steven M. Hahn, MD, to get the EUA approved on that day or start looking for a new job, according to a report from The New York Times.

The public seems ready for a vaccine to finally bring the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic to an end as a recent survey from GoHealth found that among respondents over 65, 40 percent say they plan to get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it is available, which is more than any other group, but not by much (34 percent Gen Z, 35 percent Millennials, and 39 percent Gen X).

Frontline healthcare workers in America began receiving the Pfizer vaccine yesterday, the Times reports.