Moderna to supply 25 million Covid-19 doses to Australia

Australia’s vaccine rollout is likely to get a boost with a new agreement with biotechnology company Moderna.

Australia’s vaccine rollout has been plagued with delays due to supply issues and concerns around blood clotting with the AstraZeneca jab. Picture: AFP

Moderna has announced a new supply agreement with the Australian government for 25 million doses.

The deal includes 10 million doses of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine against the ancestral strain (mRNA-1273) to be delivered by 2021 and 15 million doses of Moderna’s updated variant booster vaccine to be delivered by 2022.

Based on evidence from clinical trials, the Moderna vaccine was 94.1 per cent effective at preventing laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 illness in people who received two doses and who had no evidence of being previously infected.

The vaccine also appeared to have a high effectiveness in clinical trials among people with underlying medical conditions.

Australia’s vaccine rollout has been plagued with delays due to supply issues and concerns around blood clotting with the AstraZeneca jab.

Moderna chief executive officer Stephane Bancel said the partnership would help speed up Australia’s vaccine rollout.

“We appreciate the partnership and support from the government of Australia with this first supply agreement for doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and our variant booster candidates,” he said.

The company also announced plans to open a commercial subsidiary in Australia in 2021.

“We look forward to continuing discussions with Australia about establishing potential local manufacturing opportunities,” Mr Bancel said.

The agreement between the Australian government and Moderna is subject to regulatory approval by the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the company says it plans to submit an application shortly.

The Moderna vaccine is an mRNA vaccine against COVID-19, which was co-developed by Moderna and researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Vaccine Research Centre.

Moderna has also received authorisation for its vaccine from health agencies including Canada, Israel, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Switzerland.