FDA documents show the vaccine is not only extremely effective, but may also reduce the spread of the virus.
By Erika Edwards NBC News
Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine is 94 percent effective at preventing symptomatic illness and appears to prevent the spread of the virus as well, according to documents released Tuesday.
The findings set the Moderna vaccine up for emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration by the end of this week, meaning Americans could soon have two highly effective Covid-19 vaccines, after the first shots of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine were given to health care workers on Monday.
The high efficacy of the Moderna vaccine was noted after two doses given 28 days apart. This is about the same level of effectiveness as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
But there is also evidence that just one dose of Moderna’s may stop the virus’s spread. A second document published on the FDA website shows asymptomatic infection was reduced by 63 percent after the first shot.
Still, it is expected that regulators will require two doses of the vaccine for maximum protection.
A committee independent of the FDA, the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, will meet Thursday to decide whether to recommend that the agency greenlight the Moderna vaccine. The meeting will largely mirror the one from last Thursday, when the panel of experts ultimately recommended that the FDA authorize Pfizer’s vaccine.
The vaccines from both drugmakers use similar technology.
It is widely anticipated that the Moderna vaccine’s path to approval will be similar to Pfizer’s. An authorization could come as soon as Friday. And officials with Operation Warp Speed are already planning for widespread distribution of the Moderna vaccine.
On Monday, Army Gen. Gustave Perna, the chief operating officer of Operation Warp Speed, said that, assuming the FDA does authorizes the Moderna vaccine, nearly 6 million doses will be shipped to 3,285 locations across the country.
