The U.S.-based biotech firm Moderna said Wednesday the U.S. government has purchased another 200 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, bringing the total number of Moderna doses it has committed to 500 million.
 
In a release Wednesday, the Massachusetts-based company said the U.S. government orders include 110 million doses expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2021 and 90 million expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2022. As of Monday, the company says it has supplied 217 million doses of the vaccine to the U.S. government.
 
In the statement, Moderna Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Bancel said the company appreciates the collaboration with the U.S. government on the additional doses, adding that it could be used for the continuing primary vaccination program or for children or perhaps as a booster down the road.
 
Last month, the company announced its vaccine was safe and effective for people age  12 to 17 and applied for U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its use in that group.
 
The doses could also be part of U.S. President Joe Biden’s commitment to supply the World Health Organization-administered global vaccine cooperative, known as COVAX, with vaccine for the world’s lower-income nations.
 
During a summit with the European Union Tuesday, Biden committed to continue supporting the COVAX facility and urged the world’s donors to supply it with at least two billion doses of vaccine by the end of the year.
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