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Panel Votes for Moderna Vaccine

A US Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted in favor of authorizing Moderna's SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, CNBC reports.

Last month, Moderna announced that its mRNA-based vaccine had an efficacy of 94.5 percent in late-stage clinical testing and that it would be seeking an Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA. Additional data from the company further indicated its vaccine had an efficacy of 94.1 percent.

Prior to the panel meeting, a briefing report from FDA indicated that the agency was in favor of authorizing the vaccine, as it found the vaccine to have a high efficacy and favorable safety profile.

According to CNBC, the panel voted 20-to-0 with one abstention in favor of authorizing Moderna's SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. 

As it notes, this vote came a week after the group recommended the Pfizer-BioNTech SARS-CoV-2 vaccine for authorization, which the FDA granted last Friday. Similarly, authorization is expected quickly for Moderna's vaccine, followed by shipment of vaccine doses, CNN adds.

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