Millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses to be supplied by Moderna, Pfizer

New Delhi, Nov 17: Two pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer and Moderna have given some good news on the COVID-19 vaccine.

Moderna said on Monday that its candidate for the vaccine is nearly 95 per cent effective in preventing the viral disease. As per the projections, it would produce 20 million vaccine doses by the end of this year.

Pfizer on the other hand is expecting to globally produce up to 50 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in 2020. The companies claim that they will be able to vaccinate 25 and 10 million people respectively around the globe as both the vaccines are a two dose-regimen.

Pfizer on the other hand will by next year expand their production and produce 1.3 billion units. Moderna plans to increase production between 500 million and one billion.

The supply would however be restricted to countries that already have a deal with the manufacturers. The United States already has a deal with Moderna and Pfizer for the vaccine supply.

India on the other hand is in talks with both domestic and international vaccine producers. "Not only with Moderna, the government is also in communication with Pfizer, Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech and Zydus Cadila for their Covid-19 vaccine candidate in terms of safety, immunogenicity and efficacy," PTI reported while citing a government official.