ANOTHER ONE: Moderna Vaccine to Arrive in NC Next Week Pending FDA Approval

RALEIGH – Right on the heels of the first SARS-CoV2 vaccine arriving and being distributed to select groups, a second, similarly effective vaccine is expected to get to North Carolina next week after its expected receives emergency use authorization is granted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The first tranche of the Moderna vaccine will include 175,000 doses. In clinical trials the Moderna vaccine had an efficacy rate over 94 percent. Like the Pfizer version, the Moderna elixir is an mRNA vaccine, which basically delivers instructions for your own cells to counterfeit coronavirus ‘spike proteins’ that the immune system eventually marks for attack. If you ever encounter the real virus, your body has already built a defense.

While this one also needs refrigeration, it’s not quite the ultra-cold temps required by the Pfizer vaccine. At -4 degrees, the ability for healthcare facilities to store and transport Moderna’s drug should be more widespread.

The FDA is expected to approve emergency use authorization of Moderna’s vaccine this week.

Limited doses of the Pfizer vaccine is already here, of course, and being administered to healthcare workers and high risk populations. Governor Roy Cooper said in Tuesday’s press conference that the plan is in place for distribution, but there are still some blind spots regarding the forthcoming weeks shipments and how much will actually come through.

In the mean time, expect more doom and gloom fueled COVID orders and enforcement efforts.