The United States will buy 100 million additional shots of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine — doubling its initial order of the vaccine, which the FDA is expected to authorize later this month.
The expanded order would ensure continuous vaccine delivery through the end of June 2021, at a total cost of $3.2 billion, the Trump administration said.
Moderna’s vaccine, which is based on messenger RNA technology and about 95 percent effective in trials, will be discussed by an expert FDA panel on Thursday. Emergency authorization could come within days, potentially making the shot the second vaccine cleared for use in the United States. The FDA is expected to authorize the first, from Pfizer, as early as Friday evening.
Operation Warp Speed, the government initiative to accelerate coronavirus vaccine development and delivery, has already said that between the two options there will be 20 million doses available in December.
The government’s original $1.5 billion purchasing agreement with Moderna secured 100 million shots, with the option to buy 400 million more. While the Trump administration isn’t ordering the maximum amount, the expanded agreement brings U.S. funding for Moderna up to about $4.1 billion, a figure that includes some money for development of the shot. ...
