Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said Wednesday that his company’s COVID-19 vaccine won’t be available until the spring of next year — ending any speculation that the vaccine would be available by Election Day or by the end of the year.
- Moderna won’t seek emergency use of the vaccine for medical workers or at-risk individuals until Nov. 25 at the earliest, The Financial Times reports.
- Moderna won’t seek approval from the Food and Drug Administration for general population use until late January.
- Approval would make the vaccine available closer to March or April.
- “I think a late [first quarter], early [second quarter] approval is a reasonable timeline, based on what we know from our vaccine,” Bancel told the FT.
Earlier this month
- Moderna said earlier this month that it would seek emergency authorization for the vaccine near Nov. 1, CBS News reports.
- President Donald Trump has said multiple times — including on Tuesday night during the presidential debate with Joe Biden — that the vaccine could be ready within a matter of weeks, even by Election Day.
Any worry?
FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said politics won’t play a role in the release of the vaccine, according to MarketWatch.
“FDA will not permit any pressure from anyone to change that,” Hahn said. “I will put the interest of the American people above anything else.”