RTTNews | Oct 12, 2021 09:31AM EDT

09:30 Tuesday, October 12, 2021 (RTTNews.com) - Moderna Inc. (MRNA) said that Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance has exercised its option to purchase an additional 176.5 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for the COVAX Facility.

Of the additional doses, 116.5 million doses are expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2022 and 60 million doses are expected to be delivered in the second quarter of 2022. All doses are offered at Moderna's lowest tiered price, in line with the Company's global access commitments.

COVAX retains the option to purchase 116.5 million doses for delivery in the third quarter of 2022 and an additional 116.5 million doses for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2022.

More than 210 million doses have now been purchased by COVAX for delivery to low income countries, including 34 million doses that will be delivered in the fourth-quarter 2021.

Recently, Moderna has requested authorization of a 50 g dose as a booster from the same vial which would significantly increase the number of usable doses procured by COVAX at no additional cost. The average purchase price across all doses purchased to date is just under $10 per 100 g dose, equating to less than $5 per 50 g dose, Moderna said.

UNICEF and its procurement partners have been provided access to up to 500 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine through 2022. The agreement covers the 92 Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) low- and middle-income countries.

COVAX is a global initiative co-led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organization (WHO), to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries, regardless of income levels.

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