CDC Committee Votes to Recommend the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine

Today the CDC’s ACIP met to discuss the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. The ACIP voted unanimously to recommend it to adults.

Specifically, the committee voted on the question: The Moderna COVID-19 BLA approved vaccine (Spikevax, 2-dose primary series) is recommended for persons 18 years of age and older.

Earlier this week, the FDA approved the Moderna vaccine.

"Our COVID-19 vaccine has been administered to hundreds of millions of people around the world, protecting people from COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and death,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel, said at the time. “The totality of real-world data and the full BLA for Spikevax in the United States reaffirms the importance of vaccination against this virus.”

Moderna's vaccine has received approval by regulators in more than 70 countries, including Canada, Japan, the European Union, the UK, Israel, according to Moderna.

Previously, the vaccine had been allowed to be administered in the US with an Emergency Use Authorization, which dated back to December 2020.

Last week, the company announced it had begun its phase 2 clinical trial extension for its Omicron-specific booster (mRNA-1273.529) vaccine candidate. Moderna said it was an extension of an earlier study that will evaluate the immunogenicity, safety, and reactogenicity of mRNA-1273.529 as a single booster dose in adults aged 18 years and older.

Their Omicron-specific booster candidate will include 2 cohorts:

• One including participants who received the two-dose primary series of mRNA-1273;
• And a second group for participants who received the 2-dose primary series and a 50 µg booster dose of mRNA-1273