The Moderna vaccine was officially registered in the US in November 2020 alongside a shot from Pfizer. However, the country still fell short of reaching an ambitious goal of inoculating 20 million people by the end of last year having only managed to give the jabs to a little more than 4 million citizens.
US citizens might be receiving only half of the dose of coronavirus vaccine developed by Moderna in the future, according to Moncef Slaoui, chief of the Operation Warp Speed, a programme introduced by Trump to develop and deliver the COVID-19 vaccines to the population quickly. He explained that the government is discussing such an option with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the drug's producer, Moderna, in order to extend and accelerate the inoculation campaign in the country.
Moderna vaccine requires two jabs at a certain interval, but Slaoui suggests that only half the regular dose can be given to patients.
According to the Operation Warp Speed boss, half a dose of the Moderna jab “induces an identical immune response” to the full dosage in people of this age group. He did not elaborate on what information such conclusion is based except for saying that the effectiveness of this approach versus making a single shot is “based on facts and data”. It is unclear if some research into the matter has already been conducted.
Moderna and the FDA have not yet commented on the Slaoui's suggestion.
