Moderna, Pfizer vaccines provide new hope as COVID-19 spreads rapidly

Moderna has joined Pfizer in approaching the vaccine finish line, with a vaccine candidate the company says was 94.5% effective at preventing infection. Pfizer's candidate, announced last week, was over 90%.

Why it matters: There could be two U.S. vaccines in distribution before the New Year. This is a reason for Americans to buckle down for one last stretch to help save lives.

• There are a million new cases nationwide in the past six days alone.
• U.S. deaths are once again over 1,000 a day.
• Hospitals are filling up and health workers are stretched thin.

Now there's hope: The two companies plan to apply for emergency-use authorization later this month, and they could begin to immunize 20 million people as soon as December.

• Health care workers are at the top of the list, followed by essential workers, people with high-risk medical conditions and senior citizens.
• The general public could be offered the vaccine as soon as April, Dr. Anthony Fauci said today.
• "This does not mean that in April, everybody who’s going to be wanting a vaccine who’s not in the priority group is going to get it. It means starting at that point, you would likely begin to use those," he said.

Between the lines: Moderna’s vaccine can be kept in standard freezer storage for up to six months and refrigerators for up to 30 days — unlike Pfizer's candidate, which needs to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures.

The bottom line: Governors would ultimately have the final say of how to roll out the vaccine in their states.

• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) this morning: “This vaccination process has not been thought through at all. ... They're now saying we're going to do vaccines and distribution. You start off with a very high level of skepticism among the general population. That's 50% that don't trust the vaccine."

Go deeper: Axios Re:Cap interviewed Moderna's chief medical officer on its blockbuster vaccine news. Listen here.