US orders additional 100 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for $1.65 billion

US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense (DoD) have secured an additional 100 million doses of COVID-19 mRNA-1273 vaccine candidate from Moderna. In an official statement, the US Health and Human Services announced that the Trump administration doubled the order of the total vaccine shots it initially committed to purchasing from the pharmaceutical company Moderna Inc. in an order worth $1.65 billion.

The investigative vaccines will be delivered in the second quarter of 2021 to the US, the Cambridge-based vaccine manufacturer announced in an update. The development comes a day after the New York-based Pfizer Inc. and BioNtech gained emergency US authorisation for its vaccine, the company announced in an agency statement.

Read: Warp Speed COO: Vaccine 'distribution Has Begun'

According to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) statement, the Modern vaccines will be subject to the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorisation, following which the company will dispatch the shipment immediately. Once delivered, the vaccine will be provided to the citizens at no cost and the expenses for the private-sector administration partners will be covered by healthcare payers: private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid, and an HHS program to cover COVID-19 costs for the uninsured, the US HHS informed. 

Read: FDA: 'Science And Data' Guided Vaccine Decision

HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in the release, "Securing another 100 million doses from Moderna by June 2021 further expands our supply of doses across the Operation Warp Speed portfolio of vaccines." He added, "This new federal purchase can give Americans even greater confidence we will have enough supply to vaccinate all Americans who want it by the second quarter of 2021."

Operation Warp Speed program

The order placed by the US will ensure the bulk supply of the vials of mRNA-1273 for the Americans until the end of June 2021. The vaccine has been developed by Modern in collaboration with the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Moderna will be the second company to apply for FDA emergency use authorisation in the US. Under Operation Warp Speed program the country is aiming to procure vaccines from several companies including Janssen (Johnson&Johnson), AstraZeneca, Novavax, and Sanofi. 

Read: Oxford-AstraZeneca's COVID Vaccine Can Be Available In 1st Half Of Next Year: Official

Read: Peru Temporarily Suspends Clinical Trials Of Chinese COVID Vaccine Sinopharm