Coronavirus Notebook: UK On Cusp Of First Vaccine Approval, Moderna To File mRNA-1273 in US & EU

Russia says it will make the first deliveries of its $10-per-dose Sputnik V vaccine in January, while international regulators say vaccine trials should continue for as long as possible to generate longer-term evidence on their benefits and risks. A UK research body has stressed that drugs repurposed for COVID-19 also need to undergo thorough safety and efficacy testing as reports suggest the UK regulator could approve a vaccine within days.

The UK has bought another two million doses of the Moderna, Inc. coronavirus vaccine, bringing the total on order to seven million. It will now have enough of Moderna's mRNA-1273 to immunize about 3.5 million people, and if it is approved, the seven million doses could start to be delivered to the UK as early as spring 2021, “the same timetable as other countries in Europe,” the government said. The UK now has access to a total of 357 million doses from seven different developers.

Moderna announced on 30 November that it was about to request an emergency use authorization from the US Food and...