Israel Secures Six Million Doses Of Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine
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Israel said on Friday it had signed a deal to buy six million Covid-19 vaccine doses from US biotech company Moderna that are expected to be delivered in 2021.
“Today we signed with Moderna for the supply of six million vaccines for you, citizens of Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Twitter.
“This is triple the number of vaccines in the original contract,” he said, adding, “This gives us hope… We see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
The vaccine requires two doses, so the agreement would ensure that three million Israelis receive the Moderna vaccine, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
In mid-November, Netanyahu announced an agreement with US pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech to buy eight million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine for delivery in early 2021.
Moderna said Thursday it expects to have 100-125 million doses of its vaccine available in the first quarter of 2021.
Between 85 and 100 million of these doses will be reserved for the United States, and 15-25 million for the rest of the world, it added.
Israeli authorities imposed a second nationwide lockdown in September, when the country had one of the world’s highest novel coronavirus infection rates.
Restrictions have since been gradually eased.
Israel, a country of nine million, has officially reported more than 341,700 cases of infection, including about 2,900 virus deaths, since the start of its outbreak.
AFP