FILE PHOTO: Vials with a sticker reading, "COVID-19 / Coronavirus vaccine / Injection only" and a medical syringe are seen in front of a displayed Moderna logo in this illustration taken October 31, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
(Reuters) – Moderna Inc said on Friday it has extended its contract with the Israeli health ministry to supply an additional 4 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
Israel has now secured access to 6 million doses of Moderna’s mRNA-1273, currently under review in the country.
Financial terms and delivery timelines related to the deal were not disclosed.
In June, Israel signed an agreement with Moderna for its vaccine to protect its people from the new coronavirus. The country, with a population of 9 million, has reported 339,942 cases and 2,890 deaths, according to a Reuters tally.
It has also reached an understanding with AstraZeneca Plc to receive about 10 million doses of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine.
Moderna said it continues to scale up its global manufacturing to boost delivery by about 500 million doses per year, and possibly up to 1 billion doses a year, beginning 2021.
The company has submitted applications seeking emergency use authorization in the United States and EU after full results from a late-stage study showed the vaccine was 94.1% effective with no serious safety concerns.
(Reporting by Manojna Maddipatla in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
