FDA panel recommends Moderna vaccine for emergency use

On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration panel recommended Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency-use authorization. The FDA is expected to vote on whether to grant emergency use on Friday.

Once approved, Moderna is expected to send 180,000 doses to Washington state in the next two weeks.

Participants in the Moderna clinical trials at Kaiser Permanente are watching the process closely, eager for the vaccine to be approved.

“I don’t want any more of us to die,” said Richelle Dickerson of Seattle. She’s in phase 3 of the Moderna trial.

Last March, her friend, Jen Haller, was the first person in the world to be given the COVID-19 vaccine.

When they needed women of color, Dickerson stepped up.

“The reality is, we’re also being disproportionately impacted by this virus and by this pandemic,” Dickerson said.

She also said she hopes her actions encourage others to get vaccinated.

“As a Black woman, I’m never going to tell Black or Indigenous people to do anything because our history in this country with medical science is not good,” Dickerson said, " If somebody sees I did it and I’m OK, and it makes them feel better, that is great.”

Neal Browning of Bothell was in phase 1 of the Moderna trial. He is hopeful the vaccine will be approved soon, knowing it will take several companies to make enough vaccine for the world.

“It’s definitely going to help and it’s definitely going to be a world effort. There’s no way any single or two companies are going to be able to produce enough in such a short amount of time to vaccinate the number of people in the world,” Browning said. “I feel this has been done as quickly and safely as possible.”

Browning added that it will take months to vaccinate everyone who wants it, so people need to keep wearing masks and staying socially distanced.

For Dickerson, the expectation that the vaccine could be authorized on Friday and then shipped, brings hope.

“The idea I might be able to hug people again is a big deal,” she said.

Cox Media Group