Moderna destroys 400,000 doses of its anti-Covid vaccine

Moderna had to destroy 400,000 doses of its Covid vaccine due to a “filtration problem” that arose during its manufacture.

The American pharmaceutical group Moderna has been forced to destroy 400,000 doses of its vaccine against the new coronavirus, said Donald Trump’s scientific adviser Moncef Slaoui quoted by Bloomberg.

According to the official, this decision was taken following the emergence of a “filtration problem” in the final stages of vaccine production.

He stresses that such problems are “to be expected” in a process as complex as the manufacture of vaccines against Covid.

Production capacities maintained

For Moderna spokesman Ray Jordan, the group will still be able to manufacture the 20 million doses planned for the month of December, while in the first quarter of 2021, Moderna will have to produce between 85 and 100 million doses for the United States.

Earlier today, Donald Trump tweeted that Moderna’s vaccine has been approved for use in the United States. However, the US drug agency FDA has not yet taken an official decision in this regard.

Moderna vaccine overwhelmingly approved. Distribution to start immediately.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 18, 2020

European Commission

Pending approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the Commission has already purchased six corona vaccines, which will be distributed among the 27 Member States. Moderna’s vaccine is one of them.

On 25 November, the Commission announced that it had entered into a contract for the initial purchase of 80 million doses from Moderna, “to be delivered as soon as the vaccine has been proven safe and effective against Covid-19”. In addition, an option of 80 million additional doses was agreed. It is that option that the Commission is now making use of.

On 6 January, the EMA was due to consider approval for the Moderna vaccine. The first deliveries would be made immediately afterward.