The US authorities may administer half the dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during the immunization of the population. According to Moncef Slaoui, an adviser to the US President’s Administration, this will allow a large number of people to be vaccinated faster.
Currently, according to the vaccine use instruction, the vaccination is carried out in two doses of the drug introduced at intervals of 28 days.
Moncef Slaoui notes that the half-dose of the Moderna vaccine given to young people produces an immune response identical to that of the full dose. It is expected that administering half the dose of the drug will help immunize more people.
Previously, similar measures were taken in the UK. The doctors decided to increase the interval between introduction of the first and second doses of the drug. Two vaccines were used during the immunization, those by AstraZeneca (developed together with the Oxford University) and by Pfizer (developed together with BioNTech).
Mass vaccination against COVID-19 with the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccines started in the US on December 14th, 2020. Later, the US government and medical organizations approved the use of the Moderna vaccine.