FDA commissioner says new COVID-19 vaccine could be approved as early as Friday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration could approve for use a new COVID-19 vaccine as early as Friday.

Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said he expects the Moderna vaccine application to follow a similar timeline as the Pfizer vaccine that was approved last week.

An FDA committee is meeting Thursday to discuss the study of Moderna's version of the vaccine that has similar core qualities as Pfizer's. The recommendation of the committee is typically followed by the FDA to grant emergency use authorization.

After a woman in Alaska had an allergic reaction to a COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday, Hahn said the FDA plans to study what happened.

On Tuesday, a health care worker in Alaska had an anaphylaxis reaction about 10 minutes after receiving the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. On Thursday, Hahn said the case was being studied by the FDA.

"We have a core responsibility to follow up on any reactions that occur to one of our medical products," Hahn said. "Part of this responsibility is when events are reported to us or when we discover them, we do a very deep dive into it."

Hahn also touted the approval earlier this week of an over-the-counter, at-home COVID-19 test that can provide results in as little as 15 minutes. Previously, many at-home tests required a prescription.

According to Ellume, the test's manufacturer, there could be as many as 3 million test kits on U.S pharmacy shelves by next month. The test will cost about $30.

"It's my opinion that this is a game-changer for us," Hahn said. "It links to an app on your smartphone that will allow for reporting that can be sent to health officials and allows us to keep track of things if someone wants that to occur."

Hahn said he expects 100 million doses of some version of a COVID-19 vaccine to be available to Americans "in the next couple of months."