The Moderna Covid-19 vaccine could extend vaccination effort

The green light would nearly double today’s expected U.S. supply of Covid-19 vaccine doses and would help with a federal goal of getting a vaccine for anyone who wants one before spring or summer 2021. Moderna plans to add 20 million doses of its vaccine to Pfizer’s U.S. supply of $ 25 million in December.

“The Moderna vaccine will be a huge addition to the response,” said Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Vaccine Managers, whose members lead the state’s vaccination efforts. The Moderna vaccine not only stimulates the supply of doses, but also makes it “much easier to dispose of. [it] for smaller providers and rural areas, ”she said.

The Moderna vaccine has easier storage and handling requirements and will be disposed of in smaller quantities, health officials say. Can be stored in most conventional medical freezers, while Pfizer needs to be removed and maintained at an ultracold temperature that requires either special freezers or dry ice, more facilities common in large hospital systems and urban areas.

Once thawed, the Moderna vaccine can be kept in a refrigerator for 30 days, and Pfizer can remain in a refrigerator for just five days after thawing.

The Moderna vaccine can also be administered in containers with as few as 100 doses, and Pfizer has a minimum order of about 975 doses.

Pfizer’s minimum order size “poses challenges especially in rural areas of the country where that level of production is more difficult to manage,” said Anita Patel, deputy vaccine action group at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during an FDA consultation panel meeting on Dec. 10.

“This ultracold, of course, makes it difficult to plan, based on the size, and then also the capacity of our vaccine partners during that time,” said Rich Lakin, director of vaccination for the Utah Department of Health. He directs doses to hospitals, local health departments and pharmacies in the state.

Both vaccines are highly effective in inhibiting Covid-19 and using gene-like technology. The Pfizer vaccine was 95% effective in preventing infection in a study of 44,000 people, and Moderna was 94.1% effective in a study of 30,000 people. Both vaccines have been developed and tested at an unprecedented pace.

Both vaccines also require people to come back three or four weeks later for a second dose. However, Moderna’s can be introduced to humans as is, while Pfizer needs to be diluted in a separate solution before being injected.

“Moderna is definitely making it easier from a logistics standpoint,” said Kristen Ehresmann, director of the infectious disease division with the Minnesota Department of Health. “It will help fill gaps for greater Minnesota, for the most rural areas of our state. Some areas of the state may not have access until the Moderna vaccine arrives. ”

Federal and state officials said they have shaped their distribution strategies around the various features of the vaccines.

A Pfizer spokesman said the company’s supply chain infrastructure is designed to ensure people have access to vaccine doses that meet their temperature requirements. A Moderna spokesman said the company has been working to improve the storage and shipping requirements for its vaccine, and sustainability tests this year have shown it can be maintained at higher temperatures.

The Covid-19 vaccine license was Moderna’s first government license for a drug or vaccine in the 10 years since the company was founded to try to take advantage of gene-based technology. The Covid-19 vaccine is expected to take Moderna to the ranks of the most valuable drug companies, giving it a market capitalization of $ 54 billion.

The authorization would also validate the gene-based technology that Moderna has used to develop more than 20 other products for various diseases. The FDA approval would indicate that the future technology of vaccines and drugs could be implemented using the same basic building blocks behind Covid-19 vaccines.

Moderna and Pfizer are boosting production, but so far the U.S. has promised to buy more of the Moderna vaccine. On December 11, the U.S. government agreed to double the purchase of the Moderna vaccine to 200 million doses by the end of June. Pfizer has agreed to deliver 100 million doses, while federal officials are in talks to get more doses, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters Wednesday.

First, when supply is scarce, both vaccines are reserved for health care workers and residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. As more doses become available, other critical workers are expected to be in the next line, such as the police and teachers, the elderly and people with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of severe Covid-19 infection. .

Additional vaccines could give a boost to the major vaccine campaign if they pass a test and are authorized for use.

Johnson & Johnson are piloting a single-dose vaccine and are expected to get results from a study of its vaccine in more than 40,000 people in January. That vaccine, unlike Pfizer’s and Moderna, would not require patients to take a second dose, and the company may seek U.S. approval in February, if the results are positive.

Write to Peter Loftus at [email protected]