The Food and Drug Administration released data showing that Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective.
The FDA's review, which was published on Tuesday, confirmed Moderna’s previous assessment that its vaccine had an efficacy rate of 94.1% in a trial of 30,000 people. It noted that potential side effects of the vaccine include fever, headache, and fatigue but added that those unintended effects were not dangerous.
The vaccine's high efficacy was documented after two doses of the vaccine were administered 28 days apart.
The data release is another step for Moderna’s vaccine to get emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, which is set to happen before the end of the week, senior administration officials said Monday. Similar to last week's daylong review process of the Pfizer vaccine ending with a vote in favor of authorization, the Moderna vaccine will be reviewed by the FDA’s panel of immunologists, epidemiologists, and public health experts Thursday.
