A panel of advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday voted to push forward with Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use in people ages 18 and older, The Hill reports.
CDC Director Robert Redfield is expected to accept the recommendation from the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices this weekend.
The vaccine was approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday after a unanimous recommendation from an agency advisory panel a day earlier.
Moderna’s vaccine, like the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, is about 95 percent effective at preventing COVID-19 for the general population.
The CDC panel’s age recommendation for the Moderna vaccine Saturday also marks a change from its guidance last week for the Pfizer-BioNTech treatment, which advised the inoculation for people ages 16 and older, noted The Hill.
Officials announced earlier Saturday that distribution of the Moderna vaccine would begin this weekend.