Moderna to deliver 25 mn vaccines to Australia by 2022

US pharmaceutical companyModernaon Wednesday agreed todeliver25million Covid-19vaccineshots toAustraliaby the end of next year as the country deals with a lagging immunization campaign.

Modernawilldeliver10 million doses this year and by2022deliver15 million booster shots that are still being tested but meant to neutralize variants of Covid-19, the company and the Australian government said in a statement.

"We appreciate the partnership and support from the government ofAustraliawith this first supply agreement for doses of theModernaCOVID-19vaccineand our variant booster candidates,"ModernaCEO Stephane Bancel said in a statement.

This month,Modernareleased positive results from trials of a modifiedvaccineaimed at the South African and Brazilian Covid-19 variants, and of the third dose of its initialvaccine.

Australia's Covid-19vaccinecampaign has lagged behind those of other countries and the government's target. This week Canberra set a new goal of vaccinating all willing adults by the end of this year.

So far,Australiahas delivered 2.5 millionvaccineshots, versus the roughly 50 million jabs needed to vaccinate the entire population.

After a series of problems withvaccinedelivery and the use of the AstraZenecavaccinefor those under 50, the government is now in talks to manufacture promising mRNAvaccinesdomestically.

Australiahas ridden out the coronavirus pandemic by effectively sealing itself off from the rest of the world and with a series of snap local lockdowns.

It remains one of the few places where there is no widespread community transmission and daily life is relatively normal.

But very few Australians are immunized and there have been repeated outbreaks linked to quarantine facilities, raising fears that its success could be fleeting.