Moderna on Tuesday applied for a so-called “biologics license” for its COVID-19 vaccine, a step up from its current emergency use authorization that would open the shot to interstate commerce and allow the drugmaker to market it directly to consumers. The company’s mRNA vaccine was approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December, under a mechanism that facilitates the availability and use of medical countermeasures during public health emergencies. Moderna’s vaccine received a nod for emergency use in people aged 18 and older amid the pandemic on the basis of safety data from a large clinical trial that involved around 30,000 people. The trial showed a 94.1 percent reduction in the number of symptomatic COVID-19 cases in the people who received the vaccine, compared to people who received dummy injections. Moderna said it would continue to submit trial data “on a rolling basis over the coming …