COVID-19 Vaccine: Moderna Supply / WHO Guidance

By Amy Orciari Herman

Edited by David G. Fairchild, MD, MPH, and Lorenzo Di Francesco, MD, FACP, FHM

Moderna on Tuesday said that it's on course to deliver a total of 100 million doses of its COVID-19 mRNA vaccine to the federal government by the end of March 2021 — and 200 million doses by the end of June. The company has delivered over 30 million doses to date, 10 million of which have been administered, according to the CDC.

Elsewhere, the World Health Organization has issued interim recommendations on the use of Moderna's vaccine. The guidelines align closely with those of the CDC. One difference: The WHO says that countries with a limited vaccine supply and high COVID-19 burden "may consider delaying the administration of the second dose as a pragmatic approach to maximizing the number of individuals benefiting from a first dose while vaccine supply continues to increase." The agency says the second dose should not be extended beyond 6 weeks and cautions that "the evidence base for this extension is not strong." The WHO does not recommend halving the vaccine dose as a way to maximize supply.