by A.P.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says the COVID-19 vaccine made by Massachusetts-based Moderna is “highly effective.”
The administration has published a Moderna document about the vaccine and plans to hold an advisory committee meeting on Thursday about its emergency use.
Like the vaccine by Pfizer and BioNTech that was recently approved, Moderna’s vaccine requires two doses.
Moderna studies report a 94.1% efficiency rate and show that the vaccine may begin preventing infections that do not come with symptoms, known as asymptomatic infections, after the first dose. There is no public data on whether the vaccine by Pfizer and BioNTech prevents asymptomatic cases of COVID-19. Pfizer said it hopes to release data on effectiveness against such cases in early 2021.
Moderna’s clinical study of its vaccine included 30,000 people ages 18 and older. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine study looked at people ages 16 and older.