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Biden administration buys 200 million additional doses of Moderna’s COVID vaccine

16 June 2021
Dan Ackermann

The Biden administration has purchased an additional 200 million doses of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine, the biotech company announced Wednesday.

Why it matters: Moderna says the additional doses could be used to vaccinate children or — if necessary — as a booster shot.

  • Moderna said it plans to deliver 110 million doses in the fourth quarter of 2021 and 90 million in the first quarter of 2022.
  • The purchase bumps the total number of Moderna doses ordered by the U.S. to 500 million, 217 million of which have already been delivered.

The big picture: The U.S. and other Group of Seven nations pledged to provide 1 billion doses to help vaccinate people around the world during their summit in the United Kingdom last week.

  • The Biden administration has already purchased 500 million Pfizer vaccine doses to share with the world, with the option to buy an additional 200 million.
  • It's unclear whether the U.S. will export the new Moderna doses or keep them for booster shots.

What they're saying: “We appreciate the collaboration with the U.S government for these additional doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, which could be used for primary vaccination, including of children, or possibly as a booster if that becomes necessary to continue to defeat the pandemic,” Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said.

  • “We remain focused on being proactive as the virus evolves by leveraging the flexibility of our mRNA platform to stay ahead of emerging variants."

Go deeper:Vaccine boosters could be necessary as soon as September

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.