The US Food and Drug Administration on Friday night authorized a second coronavirus vaccine for emergency use as Covid-19 hospitalizations rose to another record and cases and deaths are piling up in unprecedented ways.

The FDA had signalled it would issue the authorization quickly for Moderna's vaccine candidate after the agency's vaccine advisers voted Thursday to recommend approval.

"The emergency use authorization allows the vaccine to be distributed in the U.S. for use in individuals 18 years and older," the FDA said in a tweet.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still needs to green-light the vaccine before shots can be administered -- and a CDC advisory panel is meeting this weekend to discuss it.
If all hurdles are cleared, Moderna's vaccine could be given in the US next week -- joining Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine, which rolled out this week, with first doses primarily being given to health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities.

Here's how Moderna's vaccine differs from Pfizer's:

"It's an exciting time, but it's a heartbreaking time," Dr Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN Friday of the vaccines' arrivals. "The numbers (of cases, deaths and hospitalizations) are almost unspeakable at this point."

In the US, average daily cases, total hospitalizations and average daily deaths are still rising to levels not previously seen, as hospital staff around the country warn they're running out of space and energy to provide sufficient care:

• Cases: The country's average number of daily cases across a week was 216,674 on Thursday -- a record high, John's Hopkins University data show. That's more than three times what the daily case average was during a summer peak in July. More than 1.51 million new coronavirus cases were reported in the US this past week -- the most ever for one week, according to JHU. That means new infections were reported in roughly 1 in 216 people in the US this week alone.

• Hospitalizations: The number of Covid-19 patients in US hospitals was 114,751 on Friday -- the most recorded on a given day for the 13th straight day -- according to the COVID Tracking Project.

• Deaths: The nation averaged 2,633 Covid-19 deaths daily across the last week -- the highest average yet. The total reported Thursday, 3,270, is the third-highest daily total on record.

With the authorization of the Moderna vaccine, 5.9 million Moderna doses could be delivered next week, joining 2 million allocated next week from Pfizer, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said earlier this week.

"We still anticipate that every American will have the opportunity to be vaccinated by June," Adm. Dr Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health at HHS, said.

Friday night's authorization will, in the end, bring speedier relief, Azar said in a statement after the FDA's announcement.
"Authorization of Moderna's vaccine means we can accelerate the vaccination of frontline healthcare workers and Americans in long-term-care facilities, and, ultimately, bring a faster end to this pandemic."

The Department of Defense "stands ready to work with our public and private-sector partners to ensure doses reach Americans as soon as possible," Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller said in the statement. "Together, we will bring this pandemic to an end."

The task at hand now is to tackle scepticism many communities have toward the vaccines and pass along the facts, according to Dr Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health. To that end, public figures including Vice President Mike Pence have received vaccinations on live television this week, hoping in part to inspire confidence.
"I've had the chance to be intimately involved in every step of the way here in the development of these vaccines. There have been no shortcuts taken, there's no hidden information," Collins told CNN Thursday. "This is something you want to do, for yourself, for your family, for the future of our nation."

Story Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/18/health/us-coronavirus-friday/index.html