Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine will provide immunity against the disease for at least a year, the biotechnology company told Reuters on Monday.
Why it matters: Moderna’s vaccine is one of the two already authorized for emergency use in the United States, as coronavirus cases exceed 22.5 million nationally and 90.8 million globally.
The big picture: Moderna expects to deliver around 600 million to 1 billion doses in 2021.
- The USA bought a total of 200 million doses of Moderna.
- The company has signed agreements with several other countries, including Japan, Canada and Israel, raising hopes as the number of global cases approaches 91 million.
- The UK and the EU’s European Medicines Agency approved the vaccine this week.
Yes but: The World Health Organization warned on Monday that collective immunity is unlikely this year, despite the vaccine’s launch in countries around the world.