The Biden administration said it would spend $1.74 billion to buy 66 million doses of Moderna Inc.’s updated Covid-19 vaccine, as well as the option to purchase up to 234 million additional doses, as part of a fall booster campaign.
The deal Friday, which follows an agreement to buy 105 million doses of updated vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE, is expected to give the federal government enough shots for a booster push as early as September.
Under the latest deal, the U.S. government has the option to buy up to an additional 234 million doses from Moderna.
The Food and Drug Administration would still need to authorize the shots, which the companies are modifying to provide stronger protection against the latest offshoots of the Omicron variant. Read more.
