The Food and Drug Administration advisory panel recommended emergency use authorization for Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine on Thursday. The decision comes six days after the FDA approved an EUA of the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech.
The 21-member panel discussed the vaccine’s safety and efficacy and with the recommendation, the shots could get emergency clearance as soon as Friday, The Washington Post reported.
The recommendation frees up Moderna’s vaccine for shipment.
Just like the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must approve the vaccine before shots can be administered -- and a CDC advisory panel is expected to meet on the matter Saturday, CNN reported.
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Moderna performed some of its trials here in metro Atlanta. Emory University was part of the first clinical trial for the vaccine developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna.
The company said the early results for its COVID-19 vaccine showed up to 94.5% effectiveness against the virus. Emory University said it tested about 700 volunteers out of the 30,000 nationwide. A clinic in Henry County was also party of the trials.
Channel 2′s Carol Sbarge talked to one of those volunteers, Rodney Milton Jr.
“I don’t yet know whether or not I received the vaccine or the placebo,” Milton said. “So far, I’ve had no side effects.”
Milton said he jumped at the the chance to participate in the trial in metro Atlanta.
“I was really caught up by the fact that if African Americans weren’t part of the original trial, the composition of the trail efficacy rates might be a challenge,” Milton said. “So that was my motivation.”
Milton said that if he learns he got the placebo, he definitely plans to get the real vaccine.
A question that is still being studied is whether or not the vaccine will prevent the person getting it from transmitting the virus.
Ted Ross, the director of the Center for Vaccine Immunology at the University of Georgia said UGA is working to learn how long the vaccine is effective.
“We got a little hint from the Moderna vaccine, because they attempted to look at transmission,” Ross said. “And they did say they had a reduced amount of virus that could be transmitted between recipients.”
Ross said they are now following up with people that have been infected or are now being vaccinated to see how long the immune response will last. He said it will probably take at least a year to get the data on that.
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The FDA meeting to discuss Moderna comes just a week after it granted emergency authorization use to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director gave his approval Saturday and shipments began this week.
Savannah frontline workers were the first in the state to receive the vaccine on Tuesday. In metro Atlanta, frontline workers in Gwinnett County rolled up their sleeves to get the first round the next day.
The vaccines are among 16,000 doses that were set to arrive in metro Atlanta Wednesday. Another 60,000 doses are expected by the end of the week.
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