A government advisory panel has endorsed a second COVID-19 vaccine, paving the way for the shot to be added to the U.S. vaccination campaign. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to comply with the recommendation and quickly approve the vaccine from Moderna and the National Institutes of Health. The FDA advisors, in a 20-0 vote, agreed the benefits of the vaccine outweighed the risks for those 18 years old and up.

Once emergency use authorization is granted, Moderna will commence shipping millions of doses, earmarked for health workers and nursing home residents, to boost the largest vaccination effort in U.S. history. The campaign gathered pace this week with the first vaccine approved in the U.S., developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

After 8-hours of discussion over technical details of the company’s study and follow-up plans, nearly all panelists backed making the vaccine available to help fight the pandemic. One panel member abstained. “The evidence that has been studied in great detail on this vaccine highly outweighs any of the issues we’ve seen,” said Dr. Hayley Gans of Stanford University Medical Center.

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