New York (AFP)
The first doses of the vaccine from the Moderna laboratory began to be sent on Saturday to various points in the United States, said the head of the operation for the US government.
The American Medicines Agency (FDA) announced late Friday that it had granted emergency authorization to this vaccine, a week after doing the same with that of Pfizer and BioNTech.
"The distribution of the Moderna vaccine has already started," said General Gus Perna, of Operation Warp Speed (faster than light) set up by the US government to ensure the delivery of the vaccine.
On Saturday, the first doses left Bloomington, Indiana, where the vaccine packaging center is located, which Moderna subcontracts to the Catalent company.
"The packages are packed and loaded today," said the general at a press briefing, indicating, however, that the delivery companies FedEx and UPS would not begin the actual delivery of the doses to their destination until Sunday.
The young company's formula can be stored at -20 ° C, and not -70 ° C as for the Pfizer vaccine, a temperature much lower than standard freezers and which has forced the group to develop specific containers for the transport.
Gus Perna stressed that the less stringent storage conditions for Moderna vaccines gave local authorities "flexibility to meet the needs of more rural and hard-to-reach areas".
Since the FDA granted Pfizer / BioNTech emergency clearance to distribute its vaccine, some 2.9 million doses have been delivered in a week, according to the general.
According to Gus Perna, the government still expects to have delivered 20 million vaccines by the end of the year, although that figure may not be reached until the first week of January.
© 2020 AFP