United States authorizes Moderna's vaccine, second only to Pfizer

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the body that regulates the marketing of drugs, authorised the use of the COVID-19 vaccine from the US biotech company Moderna on Friday. 

The FDA's authorisation of Moderna's vaccine comes just one week after that of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, whose first doses are already being administered.

"With two vaccines available for the prevention of COVID-19, the FDA has taken another crucial step in the fight against this global pandemic that is causing large numbers of hospitalizations and deaths in the United States every day," agency director Stephen Hahn said in a statement.

Hahn also said that the two vaccines, despite their "accelerated" approval, "adhere to the rigorous standards of safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality necessary to support the emergency use approval that the American people expect from the FDA.

The U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) said that 5.9 million doses of the Moderna vaccine and another 2 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be distributed nationwide next week. These 7.9 million doses will be in addition to the 2.9 million doses of Pfizer vaccine distributed this week and already being administered.

Each vaccine requires two doses per person within 21 days for Pfizer and 28 days for Moderna. This emergency authorisation (an exceptional pre-approval procedure) comes at the height of the pandemic for the United States, with over 17.4 million infections and 313,000 deaths, more than any other country.

Outgoing US Vice President Mike Pence was vaccinated against COVID-19 on Friday in public to dispel the lack of confidence that immunisation has generated among some citizens; as did other politicians, such as Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell.

In front of the television cameras, Pence received the vaccine developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, the first to be approved in the US, in an attempt to convince citizens of the safety of the preparation. "I didn't feel anything. Well done," Pence said at an event at the White House, where the first dose of the vaccine was given to him, his wife, Karen, and the US government's director general of public health, Jerome Adams.

Beyond the White House, Pelosi, 80, posted two photos on Twitter of the moment he received the serum, accompanied by the message: "Today, with confidence in science and under the direction of the [Capitol Hill] Physician's Office, I received the COVID-19 vaccine. "As the vaccine is distributed, we must all continue to wear a mask, practice social distancing and other science-based measures to save lives and crush the virus," Pelosi added.

McConnell, a 78-year-old polio survivor, posted a snapshot on the same social network minutes after receiving the vaccine, while receiving his vaccination card from a health worker. "I have just received the safe, effective COVID-19 vaccine following the Government's continuity protocols. Vaccines are how you beat the virus," he said.

The vaccine was available to all members of Congress, so it was also received by young Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, 31, who shared several videos of the moment on her Instagram account.

A health worker in Alaska (USA) suffered a severe allergic reaction after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, the third case of anaphylaxis in that state so far this week and the second requiring hospitalization.

The health worker, a doctor in the city of Fairbanks, experienced anaphylactic symptoms such as swelling of the tongue, hoarse voice and difficulty in breathing about ten minutes after receiving the serum this Thursday, according to the Foundation Health Partners, for which she works. She was immediately taken to an emergency room, where she was injected with two doses of epinephrine and discharged after about six hours.

The affected doctor, who was not identified, said in the press release that her "adverse reaction to the vaccine is negligible compared to what COVID infection can do to people". "I would get the vaccine and recommend it to anyone, despite my reaction, to help our country get immunized, which is necessary for the health of all Americans, for the economy, for families to be re-embraced, for children to return to school," she added.