Moderna Inc's coronavirus vaccine on Friday became the second to receive emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, welcome news to a nation with a staggering COVID-19 death toll of over 307,000 lives lost.
Millions of doses of the Moderna vaccine are expected to be added to the U.S. rollout, which began this week with healthcare workers. Older people in long-term care facilities are next in line for vaccines, with a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expert panel on Sunday set to recommend what groups follow, as industries compete to have their workers given precedence.
The FDA announced the authorization the day after the agency's panel of outside experts endorsed its use and a week after the FDA authorized a vaccine from Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE.