A step towards one more vaccine in the United States.
An expert advisory committee voted on Thursday, December 17, to recommend the emergency authorization of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine.
After this non-binding opinion, it will be up to the United States Medicines Agency (FDA) to give the green light, which should intervene very quickly and would make Moderna the second vaccine to be authorized in a Western country.
The opinion was given by 20 votes in favor, none against, with only one abstention.
The question asked was: "Based on all the available scientific evidence, do the benefits of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine outweigh the risks of its use in people 18 years of age and older?"
200 million doses
After the recommendation of the same committee to authorize a first vaccine, that of Pfizer / BioNTech, the FDA gave it the green light the next day.
Like that of Pfizer, the vaccine will not be recommended for people who may develop allergic reactions.
Both vaccines are based on a new technology, messenger RNA, and allergic reactions have been observed in two people who received Pfizer's vaccine in the UK, and two others in the US.
Moderna, a young Massachusetts-based biotechnology company, filed its emergency clearance application just two and a half weeks ago.
She began work on her vaccine in January 2019, in collaboration with the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), and has received support of $ 2.5 billion in public money to do so.
The US government has pre-purchased 200 million doses of Moderna's vaccine (100 million from Pfizer).
With AFP
The summary of the week
France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news everywhere with you!
Download the France 24 application
google-play-badge_FR