Moderna CEO warns European countries of slow delivery in COVID-19 vaccine

After announcing an efficacy of nearly 95% of its COVID vaccine candidate, Moderna has now issued a warning to the European countries. The biotech firm's CEO has apprised European countries of a possibility of slow deliveries if there is a delay in signing the vaccine contract. Moderna's warning comes amid the global race to procure and produce the COVID-19 vaccine, in a bid to end the pandemic. 

The US-based biotech company expects to roll out nearly 20 million doses of the vaccine in America itself by the end of 2020 and is projected to produce roughly between 500 million to 1 billion doses globally in 2021. As per reports, Moderna has committed to supply 100 million vaccine doses to the US whereas Canada has ordered 56 million doses. The UK has demanded 50 million and Switzerland has placed an order for 4.5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Moderna. 

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Moderna reports 94.5% efficacy 

Announcing results of its phase three trials, Moderna on Monday reported that its COVID-19 vaccine candidate has proven to be 94.5% effective. The biotechnology company has informed that it intends to submit the COVID-19 vaccine candidate for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) with the United States' Food & Drug Administration (FDA). The analysis released by Moderna which has reported 94.5% efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine was based on results of more than 30,000 participants in the US.

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The analysis report of the Moderna vaccine revealed that the 'preliminary analysis suggests a broadly consistent safety and efficacy profile across all evaluated subgroups.' The biotechnological firm also plans to submit applications for authorizations to global regulatory agencies.

Moderna's Phase 3 trials are randomized and including providing vaccine shots at the 100 µg dose level in 30,000 participants in the U.S., ages 18 and older. The trials also included Americans who are under the age of 65 but have high-risk chronic diseases that put them at increased risk of severe COVID-19, such as diabetes, severe obesity and cardiac disease.

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