ドイツ発（datelined Germany）： US authorizes Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine

２０２０年１２月１９日（Sat.）　各国でワクチンの認可が急がれているようです。（ニュースソース：　DWーDE  １２月１９日発　）

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US authorizes Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use

The FDA cleared a second vaccine to boost efforts at ending the coronavirus pandemic in the US. Moderna's vaccine will likely be used in harder-to-reach areas of the country due to the relative ease of storing its doses.

（抜粋）USは、モデルナ社のワクチンを緊急使用として認可しました。

FDAは２番目のワクチンとして通過させました。モデルナ社のワクチンは、国内の遠隔地等で使用される予定で、それは比較的貯蔵が容易だからです。

The US is the first nation to approve Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine.

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Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine on Friday became the second to receive the US Food and Drug Administration's authorization for emergency use, as the world's hardest-hit nation grapples with more than 3,000 coronavirus deaths a day.

"With the availability of two vaccines now for the prevention of COVID-19, the FDA has taken another crucial step in the fight against this global pandemic that is causing vast numbers of hospitalizations and deaths in the United States each day," said FDA chief Stephen Hahn.

President Donald Trump also welcomed the news. "Congratulations, the Moderna vaccine is now available," he said in a tweet.

The FDA's announcement comes a day after the US agency's panel of outside experts endorsed the use of the two-dose regimen.

"Authorization of Moderna’s vaccine means we can accelerate the vaccination of frontline health care workers and Americans in long-term-care facilities, and, ultimately, bring a faster end to this pandemic," US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement.

The US is the first nation to approve Moderna's vaccine, a week after a vaccine jointly developed by BioNTech and Pfizer was given the green light.

The BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine was first authorized by the UK on December 2, followed by several other nations, including Canada.

Both Moderna and BioNTech-Pfizer have developed vaccines based on cutting-edge mRNA technology and have shown to be about 95% effective.

What's next?

The biotech company will now begin distribution of 5.9 million shots as early as this weekend from cold-storage sites outside US cities of Memphis and Louisville. They will be shipped across the country via partnerships with FedEx and UPS.

Moderna's shots are expected to be used in the more remote and rural parts of the US due to the relative ease of storing the doses.

While the vaccine needs to be shipped and stored frozen, unlike the BioNTech-Pfizer shot, it does not have to be kept at ultra-cold temperatures. Once thawed, the Moderna vaccine can be kept at typical refrigerator temperatures.

The US government has paid Moderna for a total of 200 million doses, enough to vaccinate 100 million people.  

The company has said it will deliver approximately 20 million doses this year. It is also expected to have 100million to 125 million doses in the first quarter of next year, about 80 million of which will be for the United States.

The remaining 100 million doses will be delivered by end of June 2021.

（注：　原文を読み流して下さい。トランプも祝福のメッセージを出しています。）

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先行するファイザー社のワクチンは、既に数カ国で認可され、接種が開始されています。ただし、幾例かのアレルギー症状等が報告されています。しかし、感染拡大や死者の増加を食い止めるには、ある程度のリスクも覚悟する必要があるのでしょう。

日本での接種開始も急がれるところですが、一定の治験は必須でしょう。しかし、緊急使用認可の採択が最優先かと思います。

そして一方で、USは毎日ほぼ20万人以上の感染者を出し続けています。こんな状態にしたのはトランプだと言えないでしょうか。トップの役割は重い筈ですし、それを補佐する連中も同様です。

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日本の反省点を言うならば、SARS等が発生した時点も含め、未知のウィルスに対する研究やワクチン開発手法研究等に力（リソース）を投入してこなかったツケと考えた方が良いのかも知れません。だから、長距離ミサイル開発などを決定していないで、医療分野等にテコ入れすべきと個人的には考えます。

＊＊＊　下の写真は、記事内容とは関係ありません。

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