The United States government is considering giving some people half the dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine to speed up vaccinations, a federal official said on Sunday.
Moncef Slaoui, head of Operation Warp Speed, the federal vaccine program, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program that officials were talking to Moderna and the Food and Drug Administration about the idea. Moderna’s vaccine requires two injections.
This would mean that people aged 18 to 55 would receive half the current amount in each of the first and second doses.
Slaoui said, the quote “We know it induces an identical immune response”, noting that it would ultimately be up to the FDA to make such a decision.
Moderna and the FDA could not be reached immediately for comment.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they administered more than 4 million first doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country on Saturday morning and distributed more than 13 million doses.
The United States has also approved a vaccine from Pfizer, which, like Moderna, requires two vaccines. Vaccinations fell far short of initial targets, as officials expected to have 20 million people vaccinated by the end of 2020.
Video transcription
– The United States government is considering giving some people half the dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine to speed up vaccinations, a federal official said on Sunday. Moncef Slaoui, head of Operation Warp Speed, the federal vaccine program, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program that officials were in talks with Moderna and the Food and Drug Administration about the idea. Moderna’s vaccine requires two injections.
This would mean that people aged 18 to 55 would receive half the current amount in each of the first and second doses. Slaoui said, the quote “We know it induces an identical immune response”, noting that it would ultimately be up to the FDA to make such a decision. Moderna and the FDA could not be reached immediately for comment.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they administered more than four million first doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country on Saturday morning, and distributed more than 13 million doses. The United States has also approved a vaccine from Pfizer, which, like Moderna, requires two vaccines. Vaccinations fell short of initial targets, as officials expected to have 20 million people vaccinated by the end of 2020.