Moderna to supply twice as many than planned COVID vaccine doses in 2022
New York, US: US pharmaceutical company Moderna seeks to supply 3 billion vaccine doses against COVID-19 in 2022 instead of 1.4 billion, which is twice as many than planned, according to the company's statement, published on Thursday. "Today we have announced that our investments in Europe, including Spain, France and Belgium, Switzerland, and the U.S. will allow us to deliver up to 3 billion doses in 2022, depending on the mix of product between primary series of vaccination and variant boosters," Stephane Bancel, the chief executive officer, said in the statement.
The company, he said, has increased its 2021 manufacturing supply forecast up to 1 billion doses. As Moderna said before, an expected significant need for revaccination in the future, showed by published studies, is a reason for investing in increased supplies. Reducing immunity will impact vaccine efficacy within a year as well as variants with lower starting neutralizing antibody titers may lead to emerging infections among those already infected or vaccinated, complicating booster vaccinations. According to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Moderna vaccine, registered for use in Canada, the EU countries, Israel, Qatar, Singapore, the United States, is 94.1% effective against COVID-19.
