NEW DELHI: Food and Drug Administration (FDA), United States of America, has authorised Moderna Inc for the emergency use of its vaccine mRNA-1273 against COVID-19 in the people above 18 years of age. A statement from the company said that a total of 200 million doses of vaccine have been ordered by the Government of USA till now and it also retains the option to purchase an additional 300 million doses of vaccine. Moderna said that approximately 20 million doses of vaccine will be supplied to the country by the end of December.
Among the 21 members of VRBPAC (Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee), 20 voted for authorisation of Moderna vaccine. Stephane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer, Moderna Inc, said that he was proud of the achievements by Moderna. He added that the team of researchers was able to manufacture the vaccine in a period of 11 months from sequence to authorisation.
The Department of Defence, Department of Health and Human Services and US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, together will manage the allocation and distribution of COVID-19 vaccine in USA. Moderna expects to make almost 100 million to 125 million doses available globally in the first quarter of 2021.