The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel has endorsed the emergency use of Moderna Inc`s coronavirus vaccine, assuring of a second option against the COVID-19 pandemic.
The panel overwhelmingly voted in favour of the use of the vaccine with 20-0 votes and one abstention.
The committee voted that the benefits of the Moderna vaccine outweigh its risks in people aged 18 years and older.
The first wave of doses are expected to be earmarked for healthcare workers who treat COVID-19 patients and vulnerable residents and staff of nursing homes.
The FDA is expected to grant the emergency use authorisation by late Thursday or Friday, giving hope to the coranavirus-hit nation even as record numbers of patients threaten to overwhelm US hospitals and healthcare workers.
The United States in August entered a $1.5 billion pact with Moderna to acquire 100 million doses of its vaccine.
Moderna vaccine compared to Pfizer
Unlike Pfizer, Moderna`s vaccine does not require specialized ultra-cold freezers or vast quantities of dry ice, making it easier to supply rural and remote areas.
Pfizer vaccine poses distribution challenges due to its need to be shipped and stored at -70 Celsius (-94 F).
As per data collected by FDA scientists, the two-dose regimen of the Moderna vaccine was highly effective in preventing COVID-19 and did not raise any specific safety issues. Also, there were no cases of severe COVID-19 among those who got the vaccine in the trial versus 30 such cases in the placebo group.
The vaccine is based on the new technology of synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA) and is administered in two shots about 28 days apart. The Pfizer/BioNTech shot is also an mRNA vaccine.
Pfizer vaccine distribution, biggest vaccination drive in US
On Sunday (December 13), the biggest vaccination drive in the history of US started as trucks carrying Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine pulled out of a Michigan warehouse. It is learnt that 636 hospitals and clinics across the states will be delivered the Pfizer vaccines under Operation Warp Speed.
Sources said that trucks carrying about 184,275 vials of vaccine pulled out of the plant in Michigan and it is expected that 189 boxes of vaccine vials would arrive in all 50 states on Monday.
Meanwhile, US officials have said they expect to have 40 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines by the end of the year - enough to inoculate 20 million people. Both vaccines were about 95% effective at preventing illness in pivotal clinical trials with no serious safety issues.
The company said on Thursday it has expanded the handling guidance for the vaccine to allow it to be moved locally in a liquid state at standard refrigerated temperatures. In some cases, Moderna said, this could be the only practical way to move it to clinics or remote locations.
US has lost more than 300,000 lives to COVID-19 infection including a one-day high of 3,580 deaths on Wednesday.
