The US drugs regulator will grant emergency approval to a second coronavirus vaccine in the coming days, a decision that will make it the first country to have authorised two inoculations against the virus.

The US Food and Drug Administration decided on Thursday night to approve Moderna’s vaccine on an emergency basis, according to people close to the process, following the recommendation to do so by a panel of outside experts.

Stephen Hahn, the head of the FDA, and Peter Marks, the head of the regulator’s vaccine division, issued a statement on Thursday night that said they had informed Moderna they would work towards the “finalisation and issuance” of an emergency approval. Officials close to the process said they had made the decision to authorise the vaccine, and were now working on the written information to doctors and patients to accompany it.