The Food and Drug Administration Monday approved a second COVID-19 vaccine — the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, which will be marketed as Spikevax.
What happened: The FDA said Moderna’s vaccine, called Spikevac, met the “rigorous standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality required for approval.”
- The vaccine has been approved for emergency use authorization for those 18 years old and up.
Quote: “The FDA’s approval of Spikevax is a significant step in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, marking the second vaccine approved to prevent COVID-19. The public can be assured that Spikevax meets the FDA’s high standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality required of any vaccine approved for use in the United States,” said Dr. Janet Woodcock, the acting FDA commissioner, in a statement.
- “While hundreds of millions of doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to individuals under emergency use authorization, we understand that for some individuals, FDA approval of this vaccine may instill additional confidence in making the decision to get vaccinated.”
Flashback: In August, the FDA gave full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, saying it would be marketed as Comirnaty (pronounced “koe-mir’-na-tee”).
- At the time, the decision to fully approve the Pfizer vaccine seemed like a helpful tool for businesses, which were looking to require their employees to be vaccine, as I reported for the Deseret News.