Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, listens as Kenneth Braithwaite, nominated to be Secretary of the Navy, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr., nominated for reappointment to the grade of General and to Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, and James Anderson, nominated to be Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy testify, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, May 7, 2020. (Kevin Dietsch/Pool via AP)

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) released the following statement after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted an emergency use authorization for Moderna’s mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine. The authorization comes following the release of studies highlighting its efficacy in protecting against the COVID-19 virus and after the FDA’s independent vaccine advisory committee made its favorable recommendation for the vaccine on Thursday. The vaccine is being manufactured in partnership with Lonza Pharma & Biotech, a Portsmouth-based pharmaceutical company, which has ramped up manufacturing capacity in anticipation of the hundreds of millions of doses that will be needed by the American people. Earlier this month, Shaheen received a virtual briefing on the firm’s vaccine manufacturing efforts.

“Today’s FDA authorization of the Moderna vaccine is a significant step forward in our fight against this pandemic and a testament to our incredible doctors, scientists and researchers, whose remarkable work in developing this safe and effective vaccine in such a short amount of time is nothing less than extraordinary,” said Shaheen. “I’m especially proud of New Hampshire’s role in this effort. Lonza, a Portsmouth-based company, partnered with Moderna and has been working tirelessly to ensure that it’s prepared to ramp up production so it can carry out its mission to manufacture hundreds of millions of doses. New Hampshire health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities, which have been particularly hard hit by this pandemic, will thankfully soon receive the first doses of this vaccine. The authorization of the Moderna vaccine – the second COVID-19 vaccine announced in just weeks after months of round-the-clock work by our medical and science communities – brings hope to all Americans in our fight against this virus. I’m committed to working with Lonza, Moderna and state officials to ensure they have the resources they need to meet the demand for vaccine production and create a robust, well-prepared distribution chain that will ensure every Granite Stater can be vaccinated.”

Shaheen has led efforts in the Senate to ensure the United States is prepared to quickly produce and deliver COVID-19 vaccines to the American people. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act included a Shaheen- supported provision containing $3.5 billion to support vaccine development and manufacturing. Shaheen has also called for robust funding to ensure the swift distribution of COVID-19 vaccines as a part of any upcoming legislation to address the pandemic – following up on their call from earlier this year for Congress to provide at least $5.6 billion in federal funding to develop and support COVID-19 vaccine infrastructure.

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