United States Vice President Mike Pence has taken a coronavirus vaccine on live television as the country with the largest death toll and caseload seeks to build trust in their vaccination programme.
The effort comes after an independent advisory panel to the US Food and Drug Administration gave the green light to a second coronavirus vaccine for emergency use in the country.
The independent ‘Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee’ voted 20-0 with one abstention to advance the Moderna vaccine for FDA approval.
The Centres for Disease Control must also sign off on adding the immunization to the national adult vaccine schedule.
As the US death toll spirals to record numbers amid a third wave – over 3 500 on Wednesday, more than 3 200 on Thursday – a new CDC forecast says up to 80 000 additional people could die by January 9 at an average of 3 600 a day.
And with a second vaccine’s approval imminent, efforts to bolster confidence in the process from Vice President Mike Pence. “And I also believe that history will record that this week was the beginning of the end of the coronavirus pandemic but with cases rising across the country, hospitalizations rising across the country we have a ways to go.”
Moderna’s immunization has been shown to be over 94% effective, while also found to be safe.
Moderna’s vaccine needs to be stored at minus-20 degrees Celisus – a marked difference from Pfizer-BioNtech that requires storage at minus-70 degrees and must be defrosted and reconstituted before being administered. While mild side effects are reportedly common – from muscle pain to fatigue – those tend to disappear within days.
The approval of a second vaccine coming at a time when hospitalizations across the country continue to breach previous records – over 114 000 people are currently hospitalized due to the coronavirus in the United States. Hospital systems are warning that they are running out of space and the ability to provide sufficient care. And the millions of vaccine doses being brought to market are unlikely to make a dent in that trajectory for weeks if not months to come.
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