The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the second vaccine — this one developed by Moderna for the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Authorized Use

For the prevention of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for individuals 18 years of age and older

Efficacy

Regulators reported earlier this week that the Moderna vaccine was safe and its efficacy is 94%.

Type of Vaccine

The vaccine developed by Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) uses messenger RNA (mRNA) technology to introduce the body to the spike proteins coating the surface of the coronavirus.

Common Side Effects

The most commonly reported side effects, which typically lasted several days, were pain at the injection site, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, joint pain, swollen lymph nodes in the same arm as the injection, nausea and vomiting, and fever.

More than half of people who received the Moderna vaccine in clinical trials reported uncomfortable symptoms, including fatigue, headaches and soreness, after their second shot, given about four weeks after the first. Some volunteers also developed a fever or a rash around the injection site.

Incidents like these appear to be much more common with Moderna’s vaccine than Pfizer’s, which containers a smaller dose of the active ingredients. But most of the side effects disappeared within a day or so of the inoculation.

Storage

It requires temperatures of around -20C for shipping - similar to a normal freezer.

Dosage

Like the Pfizer jab, the Moderna vaccine also requires a second booster shot. Moderna's second injection comes 28 days after the first, compared with 21 for Pfizer.

Country ordered the Moderna vaccine

• The US has agreed to purchase 200 million doses of Moderna, and six million may be ready to ship now.
• Canada plans to get two million doses by March - part of a total 56 million doses

• The UK has already pre-ordered seven million doses

• The European Union last month announced a contract to purchase of 80 million doses - with an option to purchase up to 80 million more - once the vaccine is deemed safe and effective

• Japan has signed up for 50 million doses, South Korea for 20 million, and Switzerland has ordered 7.5 million, according to data compiled by the Duke University Global Health Innovation Center

Source

·        https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/moderna-covid-19-vaccine

·        https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55370999

·        https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/12/18/947948227/modernas-covid-19-vaccine-becomes-2nd-to-earn-fda-authorization

·        https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/18/fda-authorizes-moderna-coronavirus-vaccine-emergency-use-across-the-us

·        https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/19/health/coronavirus-moderna-vaccine.html