An American plan to reduce the dose of Moderna vaccine … and countries are discussing licensing it

Moncef Salawi, head of the “Rap Speed” operation dedicated to providing vaccines against the emerging coronavirus in the United States, said, on Sunday, that there is a plan to provide half of the expected dose of the “Moderna” vaccine in order to accelerate efforts to combat the epidemic.
In an interview on the American “CBS” channel, Slawi added that federal officials are discussing the idea with “Moderna” and the Food and Drug Administration “FDA”.
“We know, with regard to the Moderna vaccine, that if people whose ages range from 18 to 55 years old get two doses of half the quantity, then we will be able to double the number of vaccinators with the doses available to us,” Slawi said.
The US official pointed out, “We know that half of the quantity induces an immune response corresponding to the full dose.”
For its part, the Dutch National Medicines Authority announced that the European Medicines Agency was unable to reach a decision on the approval of the American “Moderna” vaccine against Corona.
The Dutch Medicines Regulatory Authority said that approval could take place at the meeting on January 6, noting that it was not clear why the decision was not reached on Monday.
“This is how it works, of course we were hoping for more, but we knew that it might be impossible to answer all the questions in detail in one meeting,” said Ton de Boer, head of the Dutch Medicines Regulatory Authority.
To that, Moderna said, on Monday, that the Israeli Ministry of Health has permitted the use of its vaccine to prevent Corona virus, in Israel, which represents the third license for the vaccine and the first outside North America.
“The Israeli Ministry of Health has requested six million doses and the first deliveries are expected to begin in January,” Moderna said in a statement.
Moderna has obtained a license for its vaccine in the United States and Canada, and additional licenses are under review in the European Union, Singapore, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
On Monday evening, the Israeli Ministry of Health announced that 7,518 new cases of Covid-9 had been recorded, bringing the total number of cases to 445845.
In a related context, the Turkish Bilkent University announced that its scientists had developed a device capable of diagnosing infection with the Coronavirus, within 10 seconds, depending on nanotechnological techniques.
The university pointed out that “the device does not depend on the principle of analysis on replicating samples, but rather on the optical properties of the test, as a sample from the oral mucosa is used, then it is mixed with a special solution and placed in the device.”
She added: “During the preclinical studies, the device showed 99% efficiency in detecting the Corona virus.”