Reuters, US
An additional 100 million vaccine doses were purchased by the United States earlier this month from Moderna, raising the total ordered doses to 300 million.
On Tuesday, Moderna Inc said it was pushing the supply target for the second 100 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine to the United States by one month to the end of May.
The biotech company said short-term delays at Moderna's fill and finish contractor Catalent Inc in the final stages of development and release of filled vials have recently postponed the release of certain doses.
These delays are expected to be resolved in the near term and are not expected to affect monthly delivery goals, Moderna said.
Earlier this month, the United States, which is grappling with supply shortages for its large-scale attempts to vaccinate most Americans, purchased an additional 100 million vaccine doses from Moderna, raising the total ordered doses to 300 million. The company reiterated that it was on target to produce the first 100 million doses by the end of March, and also pushed forward by two months to the end of July to deliver its third 100 million vaccine doses. Around 25.5 million doses of the two-dose vaccine have been administered by the US government so far, with 45.4 million doses given, Moderna said.
According to the manufacturer, an additional 33.2 million doses of the vaccine have been filled into vials and are at different stages of final development and testing before being released to the US government.
For February and March, Moderna plans to produce an average of 30 to 35 million doses per month, and 40 to 50 million doses per month from April to the end of July.
The company said it will ship doses to the US as they are manufactured first, possibly impacting its weekly supply numbers instead of stockpiling.
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