Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accepted a recommendation from the CDC’s vaccine experts for adults to take the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine on Friday.
In a statement, Walensky added, “We now have another fully approved COVID-19 vaccine.” “If you have been waiting for approval before getting vaccinated, now is the time to join the nearly 212 million Americans who have already completed their primary series. CDC continues to recommend that people remain up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines, including getting a booster shot when eligible.”
The CDC’s vaccine advisors voted 13-0 earlier in the day to endorse the two-dose Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, which was given full approval by the US Food and Drug Administration this week.
The vaccine was available under emergency use authorization and had been recommended on an interim basis before it was approved by the FDA.
After hearing facts regarding Moderna’s FDA application and the most recent safety data, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended the vaccine.
In adults, there are no new safety concerns about the Moderna vaccine, but it has been associated to a small number of incidents of allergy and myocarditis, a kind of heart inflammation. The risk of myocarditis is modest overall, but it is higher among teenage and young adult males and after the second dose, according to the experts.
“The benefits for the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine far outweigh any possible vaccine-associated risk,” Dr. Sara Oliver of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the advisers.
In the United States, more than 200 million doses of the Moderna vaccine have been delivered.
The approved vaccine is identical to the vaccine that was previously available through emergency use authorisation. Under FDA emergency use authorisation, boosters of the Moderna vaccination are still accessible.
In the United States, this is the second FDA-approved vaccine. In August, the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccination was licenced for people aged 16 and up.
“I still have a sense of wonder on what’s been accomplished here.” At Friday’s meeting, vaccination adviser Dr. Matthew Daley, senior investigator for Kaiser Permanente Colorado’s Institute for Health Research, said, “That, and a deep sense of gratitude.” “These vaccines were authorised and then licenced along a rapid timeline while still following all the well-established regulatory processes in place before the pandemic.”
“An estimated 1.1 million deaths have been averted through vaccination in the US and countless more globally. … I don’t think we can take this for granted.”
Despite this, the vaccine advisers emphasised that more work remains against Covid-19, particularly in terms of promoting immunisation and boosters.
According to the CDC, about 64% of the overall US population has received at least their first series of Covid-19 vaccinations. More than a quarter of the population in the United States has been fully vaccinated and boosted.
After the last dose in their primary series, everyone 12 and older should get a booster shot, according to the CDC.
During Friday’s meeting, Dr. Jeffrey Duchin, health officer for Public Health-Seattle and King County, said, “I would just like to reinforce the importance of the booster dose.” “There are many people in our community and many communities throughout the country who have received that primary series and … who are eligible but yet have not received the booster dose.”
“It’s critical to understand how necessary that booster doses to receive the full protection that these vaccines can offer against serious disease, including hospitalization and death.”
