Updated December 20, 2020 6:41 a.m. EST By Katherine J. Wu, New York Times As the coronavirus continued to surge across the United States, an independent panel of experts advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted on Saturday to endorse a second coronavirus vaccine for use in the United States. The committee’s recommendation follows an emergency authorization granted by the Food and Drug Administration on Friday. The committee’s endorsement now awaits final approval by Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, expected shortly. Some 5.9 million doses of the Moderna vaccine are slated for distribution starting on Sunday, and the first inoculations are expected to begin sometime on Monday.