Moderna said Oct. 26 that it has entered into an agreement to sell 110 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the African Union.
The company plans to deliver 15 million shots in the fourth quarter of 2021, 35 million in the first quarter of 2022 and 60 million in the second quarter of 2022. It said it will offer the doses at the lowest tiered price.
Moderna has faced criticism from health experts after The New York Times reported this month that almost all its shots have gone to wealthier countries and it has shipped a larger share of its doses to high-income countries than any other vaccine maker.
Fewer than than 6 percent of Africans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and fewer than one-third of African nations had fully vaccinated 10 percent of their populations by the start of this month, the Times reported.
Moderna has said it is not able to supply more shots to low-income countries because it has limited manufacturing capacity and all its production this year was tied up in orders from governments including the U.S. and the European Union.
Moderna said it is also working on plans to allow it to fill doses of its vaccine in Africa as soon as 2023. The company previously announced it will build an mRNA manufacturing facility in Africa. BioNTech has also said it will build an mRNA vaccine factory in Africa, the Times reported.
"We believe our vaccine can play an important role in addressing the needs of low-income countries given its combination of high phase 3 efficacy against COVID-19, strong durability in the real-world evidence, and superior storage and handling conditions," Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said in a news release. "We recognize that access to COVID-19 vaccines continues to be a challenge in many parts of the world and we remain committed to helping to protect as many people as possible around the globe."
Read Moderna's full news release here.