FDA committee recommends Moderna vaccine for people 18 and older

An FDA advisory panel voted Thursday to recommend the agency approve Moderna's coronavirus vaccine for use in people 18 years old and older.

The committee voted 20-0 to recommend the emergency authorization, with one abstention. The committee a week ago approved Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine. The FDA approved the vaccine the next day.

The Pfizer vaccine requires each patient to receive two doses about 21 days apart, and the Moderna vaccine also would require two doses. Assuming the Moderna vaccine is authorized, the two products could combine for an availability of 40 million doses, for 20 million people, by the end of December, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said.

In Missouri, hospitals have begun administering that vaccine to their workers. The state is expecting more than 100,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine next week.

COVID-19 has killed more than 300,000 people nationwide, including more than 4,800 in Missouri.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would have to approve the vaccine's use after the FDA grants an emergency use authorization. A CDC advisory panel is scheduled to meet Saturday.

Check back for updates to this developing story.