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Saturday 19 December 2020
Second coronavirus vaccine
US Approves Modern Vaccine
Distribution of a second coronavirus vaccine may begin in the United States. The FDA has granted the vaccine from the drug company Moderna emergency approval. The European Medicines Agency does not want to make its recommendation until the new year.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency approval to the corona vaccine from the national pharmaceutical company Moderna. The FDA announced this early in the morning German time on Twitter. The agency’s independent advisory committee had already ruled in favor of this the day before. About a week ago, the vaccine from Mainz-based biotech company Biontech and its US partner Pfizer also received emergency approval. It has been used in the US since Monday, but requires more cooling than Modern preparation.
US government officials had said in the previous days that the drug could begin to be used early next week. They expect that nearly six million doses of vaccines will be available for distribution immediately after approval. “Congratulations, the Moderna vaccine is now available,” US President Donald Trump tweeted minutes after the FDA made the statement. However, experts have repeatedly stated that people in particular need of protection receive the vaccine first and it may take months before sufficient funds are available for the general population.
The EU has ordered 160 million cans
It is the world’s first approval for the active ingredient Moderna. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company expects 20 million doses of the vaccine called mRNA-1273 to be available in the US by the end of the year. Production of 100 to 125 million doses of vaccine is expected during the first three months of next year. Of these, 15 to 25 million should be available outside the US Overall, the group expects to be able to manufacture up to 1 billion doses of vaccines worldwide by 2021. To have full immune protection, each vaccinated person must receive two doses.
The EU Commission has requested a total of 160 million doses of Moderna vaccines. The first deliveries are expected to arrive in early 2021, provided the European Medicines Agency approves the vaccine. Ema announced Thursday that she would make a recommendation on January 6.
Moderna announced in late November, based on its pivotal phase III study, that its vaccine was 94.1 percent effective. According to a publication in the “New England Journal of Medicine” (“NEJM”), data from a Phase I study also showed that the immune response triggered by the vaccine was clearly detectable in the blood for several months. The result could indicate that the Moderna vaccine offers protection against Covid-19 for a longer period of time. But that is not a test.
