The Food and Drug Administration agreed Friday that pharmaceutical maker Moderna would increase the coronavirus vaccine formula in each of its vials by up to 40 percent, according to the New York Times.
Sources told the Times that the measure could allow the company to include up to 14 doses in each vial of the vaccine instead of the current 10 doses, which would increase the country’s total vaccine supply by about 20%.
“It would be a big step forward,” Moncef Slaoui, the scientific leader of the Trump administration’s program to develop a vaccine, told the Times. “I think it will have a short-term impact.”
A company spokesman declined to comment to the newspaper about its discussions with regulators.
Earlier this week, the Biden administration announced an agreement to buy 100 million more doses of the Modern vaccine, which has so far provided 41 million doses to the government.
” We are grateful for the confidence that the United States government has shown in our COVID-19 vaccine, ” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a press release. ” We continue to expand our manufacturing capacity, both in the United States and abroad. Our goal is to bring our vaccine to as many people as possible around the world to help end this pandemic. It is encouraging and humiliating to know that more than 22 million Americans have already been protected with the Moderna vaccine. “
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