<p>US President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States has authorized a second coronavirus vaccine, jumping the gun on regulators who have yet to give it the formal green light.</p>.<p>"Moderna vaccine overwhelmingly approved. Distribution to start immediately," he wrote on Twitter.</p>.<p>This follows a recommendation by an expert panel on Thursday to grant emergency use approval for Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine in the United States.</p>.<p>The Food and Drug Administration is expected to issue formal approval Friday. This would make Moderna's vaccine the second to be approved in a Western country following the one developed by Pfizer-BioNTech.</p>.<p><strong>Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/mike-pence-gets-covid-19-vaccine-as-us-deaths-top-3000-for-third-straight-day-928845.html" target="_blank">Mike Pence gets Covid-19 vaccine as US deaths top 3,000 for third straight day</a></strong></p>.<p>Trump's announcement came as US Vice President Mike Pence and his wife received the Covid-19 vaccine live on television, in a public display designed to boost national confidence in the measure.</p>.<p>Pence indicated that formal approval for Moderna would be a matter of hours.</p>.<p>"We have one, perhaps within hours two, safe and effective coronavirus vaccines," he said.</p>.<p>Thursday's hearing came as the number of deaths from the coronavirus quickly approaches 310,000 in the country with the world's biggest Covid-19 outbreak, which this week began vaccinating health care workers and long-term care residents with the Pfizer vaccine.</p>.<p>Both of the frontrunner vaccines are based on cutting-edge mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) technology, which had never been approved prior to the pandemic, and both are two-dose regimens.</p>.<p>The US, which has recorded more than 17 million cases of the virus, will probably become the first country to approve the Moderna vaccine.</p>
<p>US President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States has authorized a second coronavirus vaccine, jumping the gun on regulators who have yet to give it the formal green light.</p>.<p>"Moderna vaccine overwhelmingly approved. Distribution to start immediately," he wrote on Twitter.</p>.<p>This follows a recommendation by an expert panel on Thursday to grant emergency use approval for Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine in the United States.</p>.<p>The Food and Drug Administration is expected to issue formal approval Friday. This would make Moderna's vaccine the second to be approved in a Western country following the one developed by Pfizer-BioNTech.</p>.<p><strong>Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/mike-pence-gets-covid-19-vaccine-as-us-deaths-top-3000-for-third-straight-day-928845.html" target="_blank">Mike Pence gets Covid-19 vaccine as US deaths top 3,000 for third straight day</a></strong></p>.<p>Trump's announcement came as US Vice President Mike Pence and his wife received the Covid-19 vaccine live on television, in a public display designed to boost national confidence in the measure.</p>.<p>Pence indicated that formal approval for Moderna would be a matter of hours.</p>.<p>"We have one, perhaps within hours two, safe and effective coronavirus vaccines," he said.</p>.<p>Thursday's hearing came as the number of deaths from the coronavirus quickly approaches 310,000 in the country with the world's biggest Covid-19 outbreak, which this week began vaccinating health care workers and long-term care residents with the Pfizer vaccine.</p>.<p>Both of the frontrunner vaccines are based on cutting-edge mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) technology, which had never been approved prior to the pandemic, and both are two-dose regimens.</p>.<p>The US, which has recorded more than 17 million cases of the virus, will probably become the first country to approve the Moderna vaccine.</p>