Americans may soon be able to get both their COVID-19 and flu shot in one booster dose as Moderna (MRNA) announced that it is developing an all-in-one vaccine.

The booster, mRNA-1073, combines Moderna’s current Food and Drug Administration-authorized COVID vaccine and a flu vaccine that is also under development by the company.

Moderna’s two-dose COVID vaccine was authorized by the FDA in December, and more than 147 million doses of the shots have been administered in the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

With the news of the 2-in-1 booster shot, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a statement the company was “announcing the first step in our novel respiratory vaccine program with the development of a single-dose vaccine that combines a booster against COVID-19 and a booster against flu.

“We are making progress on enrolling patients in our rare disease programs, and we are fully enrolled in our personalized cancer vaccine trial. We believe this is just the beginning of a new age of information-based medicines.”

Back in April, Bancel said that he hoped Moderna would develop a booster shot that would protect against COVID-19 and the flu viruses, CNBC reported.

Health officials have warned of a "twindemic," where the flu and the coronavirus take hold at the same time.

In April, Bancel said, “What we’re trying to do at Moderna actually is to get a flu vaccine in the clinic this year and then combine our flu vaccine to our Covid vaccine so you only have to get one boost at your local CVS store ... every year that would protect you to the variant of concern against COVID and the seasonal flu strain,” as reported by CNBC.

As of Thursday at 12:41 p.m. ET, shares of Moderna were trading at $28.70, up 6.79%.

Some ten percent of Americans have so far received at least one Covid vaccine dose, with Moderna accounting for just under half the number
Moderna logo. AFP / JOEL SAGET
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