WASHINGTON (AP) — The administration of President Joe Biden announced Friday an agreement with Moderna to purchase 66 million doses of the next generation of COVID-19 vaccines, focused on the contagious omicron variant. This will be enough supplies for everyone who wants to receive the new booster this summer.
The order for the bivalent vaccine follows an announcement last month that the federal government had secured 105 million doses of a similar vaccine from drugmaker Pfizer. Both orders are due to be delivered in the fall and winter, once regulators confirm their effectiveness. The Pentagon said the Moderna contract is valued at $1.74 billion.
The omicron variant has been dominant in the United States since December, with the BA.5 subvariant now causing a huge wave of infections across the country, even infecting President Biden.
“We must remain vigilant in our fight against COVID-19 and continue to expand Americans’ access to the best vaccines and treatments,” Health Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “Going into the fall and winter, we’re doing just that: ensuring Americans have the tools they need to stay safe and help move the country forward.”
The orders with Pfizer and Moderna include options to buy 300 million doses of each, but reaching that total would require more funding from Congress, the Biden administration said.
Some 261 million Americans have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, but only 108 million have received a booster.