The U.S. is awaiting a green light from the Food and Drug Administration on a second vaccine that would help fight what has become the deadliest outbreak yet. Currently, cases in California are averaging more than they were for the entire U.S. in mid-October. Should the FDA greenlight this vaccine there is hope that with other mitigation tools people will be able to help curb the hardship this hot spot is causing, but there is little hope that things will get overwhelmingly better. “I am fearful it will be worse than what we saw in New York,” said Dr. Marc Futernick, an emergency room physician in Los Angeles. He warns that there is “no cavalry coming.”

This second vaccine is made by Moderna Inc. and the National Institutes of Health. While the shot is very similar to the already approved Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine, it doesn’t have to be stored at ultra-frozen temperatures. Both vaccines still must be given in two shots and are made out of the new mRNA technology.