Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
Moderna Inc. said it would deliver less Covid-19 vaccine than planned to the UK, Canada and other countries this quarter due to a shortage of doses in its European supply chain.
Moderna, working with the Swiss partner Lonza Group AG to make the shots in Europe attributed the decline in deliveries to a slower production capacity than expected. Moderna has its own plant in Massachusetts that caters to the US
The reduced deliveries to other countries will further limit the supply of global vaccines, with shots from Johnson & Johnson around the world waiting for concern about linking with rare but dangerous blood clots, a problem that also limits the use of AstraZeneca Plc’s vaccine in Europe.
“The trajectory of vaccine build-up is not linear, and despite best efforts, there is a shortage of previously estimated doses,” Moderna said in a statement on Friday. “Vaccines are a very complex process and a number of elements, including human and material resources, have been taken into account in this variability.”
Shipments to the UK will be reduced from this month, a few days after the Moderna vaccine was rolled out in the UK, affecting the total number of doses expected to be delivered by the end of June.
British program
The UK’s vaccination program was a bright spot in Britain’s response to the pandemic, with almost half of the population now being vaccinated with at least one dose. However, the pace looks set to slow in the coming weeks, following a delay in a shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccine from India, which has pushed the government to shift its focus to delivering second doses.
The UK has bought 17 million doses of the Moderna shot, the smallest contract in its vaccine portfolio.
The company also told the Canadian government that it would nearly halve the expected delivery of Covid-19 vaccines as it struggles to contain a third wave of coronavirus cases. according to Purchasing Minister Anita Anand.
Canada will now receive 650,000 doses by the end of April, instead of the originally planned 1.2 million. About 2 million more who arrived by the end of June will arrive by the end of September, Anand said by email.
Lonza did not immediately respond to phone and e-mail messages.
– With help by Tim Loh and Robert Langreth
(Updates throughout)