CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Americans will soon have access to a second COVID-19 vaccine. Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, granted emergency authorization Friday to a vaccine made by Moderna, a week after giving similar clearance to one made by Pfizer and its German collaborator, BioNTech. His is "authorizing" rather than approving the vaccine, because longer-term research is needed to meet the full standards for approval, which officials don't want to wait for during the public health emergency. The speedy path to authorization was possible because the agency “cut through regulatory red tape,” Hahn said at a Friday night press conference. "We worked quickly based on the urgency of this global pandemic ... we have not cut corners."