Israel says agreement signed for 6 million Moderna vaccines – Manila Bulletin

Israel said on Friday it had signed an agreement to purchase six million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from the American biotech company Moderna, which are expected to be delivered in 2021.

“Today we signed with Moderna for the supply of six million vaccines for you citizens of Israel,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Twitter.

“This is triple the amount of vaccines in the original contract,” he said, adding: “This gives us hope … We see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

The vaccine requires two doses, so the deal would guarantee that three million Israelis receive the Moderna vaccine, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

In mid-November, Netanyahu announced an agreement with the American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech to purchase eight million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine for delivery in early 2021.

Moderna said Thursday that it expects to have between 100 and 125 million doses of its vaccine available in the first quarter of 2021.

Between 85 million and 100 million of these doses will be reserved for the United States and between 15 and 25 million for the rest of the world, he added.

Israeli authorities imposed a second nationwide lockdown in September, when the country had one of the highest rates of infection with the novel coronavirus in the world.

Since then, the restrictions have been gradually eased.

Israel, a country of nine million, has officially reported more than 341,700 cases of infection, including some 2,900 deaths from viruses, since the start of its outbreak.