FDA Panel Weighs Moderna s COVID-19 Vaccine
at 5:29 am NPR
The same group of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration that voted to recommend the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use a week ago convenes again today to consider the Moderna vaccine.
The agency frequently seeks advice from these committees of independent experts when considering whether to make available a new drug or vaccine. In this case, the agency will ask the committee to vote on whether the evidence shows that the benefits of the Moderna vaccine outweigh its risks.
On Tuesday, the FDA released its analysis of the vaccine, along with an information packet from Moderna. The agency found the vaccine to be 94% effective and to have a favorable safety profile that raises no specific safety concerns identified that would preclude issuance of an EUA, or emergency use authorization.
The feds need to be more upfront about stuff, though…
Pharmacists have found a way to squeeze extra doses out of vials of Pfizer’s vaccine, potentially expanding the nation’s scarce supply by up to 40 percent.
The Food and Drug Administration said late Wednesday that those extra doses could be used, clearing up confusion that had caused some pharmacists to throw away leftover vaccine for fear of violating the rules the agency set last week.
And that’ll help mitigate the fact that dose shipments were cut in half this week. UPDATE 1 Like I said, patience will be a virtue. The feds haven’t even sent the vaccine to Cook, Lake, Madison and St. Clair counties. From Jordan Abudayyeh