UK MHRA approves temporary use of COVID-19 Vaccine for use in the UK.- Moderna

Moderna's mRNA-1273 is now the third COVID-19 vaccine in the UK to receive regulatory approval for supply by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), a decision that comes just days after it was granted a conditional marketing authorisation in the EU. This temporary authorisation is based on a rolling review that included data from the Phase III COVE study. An interim analysis conducted on 196 cases from the ongoing trial showed an efficacy rate of 94.1% for Moderna's vaccine at reducing the number of symptomatic COVID-19 cases among people who had no sign of previous infection. Authorisation of the two-dose vaccine, which can be stored at -20°C for up to six months, is for use in people 18 years and over, with the UK noting it is recommended that the second dose be administered 28 days after the first. The regulator did not specify whether a controversial move by the UK to allow a gap of up to 12 weeks between doses, in a bid to vaccinate more people, would apply to mRNA-1273 as it does with AZD1222 or BNT162b2.