Moderna Seeking Full FDA Approval for COVID-19 Vaccine

This article was originally published in ContagionLive.

Moderna is moving forward with plans to apply for full approval for individuals 18 and up from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for their COVID-19 vaccine.

The company has stated that it will be submitting trial data to the FDA on a rolling basis over the coming weeks. Moderna is seeking a priority review, which would give the FDA 6 months to take action on the approval. This comes after Pfizer announced last month that they have also begun the process of seeking full FDA approval for their COVID-19 vaccine.

Canada is set to receive 2.9 million doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine after the company announced they would increase their deliveries. For the month of May, Canada was receiving weekly deliveries of about 2 millions doses. Additional does of both Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines are also expected, while expected doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine remain unclear. As of Sunday, Canada has reported 23 million doses administered, with around half of the population having received at least 1 shot.

After several issues have held up inoculation efforts in Venezuela, the campaign finally began again over this past weekend. To date, only around 1.1% of the population has received a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Around 1,000 people are expected to receive their first dose by end of day Monday.

Data Table per Our World in Data (May 30, 2021, 12 AM EST)

Despite a slowing in vaccination rates, the US is slowly getting closer to President Biden's goal of having 70% of the adult population receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by July 4. As of Sunday, 62% of the adult population has gotten at least one shot and states all over the country are lifting their restrictions.

Data Table per CDC COVID-19 Tracker (May 24, 2021, 6 AM EST)

For more information on COVID-19 vaccination research, distribution, and assessment, check out some of these recent Contagion stories:

Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Achieves 100% Effectiveness in Adolescents

CDC Investigating Heart Inflammation in Teens Receiving COVID-19 Vaccine

FDA Issues EUA to Monoclonal Antibody for Treatment of COVID-19