Moderna announce 25 million jabs of Covid-19 vaccine for Australia

A much-needed boost for Australia's sluggish vaccine roll-out was delivered on Wednesday night with pharmaceutical company Moderna announcing a deal to supply 25 million doses of their Covid-19 vaccine to the land down under.

Moderna's vaccine, like the Pfizer jab uses the same mRNA technology and has delivered similar results during trials.

The US-based biotechnology company have also revealed in their statement  that they have established talks with Australia about potential local manufacturing opportunities.

On Thursday morning Health Minister Greg Hunt confirmed the deal with ten million vaccines due to hit our shores this year, while a further 15 million booster shots will be available in 2022.

"They serve two purposes, firstly, as a reserve supply for this year if other elements of the supply chain run into any challenges, secondly they are our foundation of a booster and variant strategy", he said.

Mr Hunt explained the Moderna vaccine had already been approved for use in the United Kingdom, Canada, European Union, United States and Singapore.

Moderna strikes deal with Australia

The deal still requires approval from Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration, to which Moderna said it would apply "shortly".

"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 and we look forward to continuing discussions with Australia about establishing potential local manufacturing opportunities," Stephane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna, said in a statement.

If approved for use in Australia the Moderna vaccine will join AstraZeneca and Pfizer.

Catch the latest headlines and your daily dose of news on The Briefing, with Tom Tilley and Jan Dran, Annika Smethurst and Jamilla Rizvi. Available on Listnr