In a business update published on Tuesday, Moderna (MRNA -1.39%) said that it's still on pace to deliver 100 million doses of its mRNA-1273 coronavirus vaccine to the U.S. federal government by the end of the first quarter (March 31). The company added that it should have a total of 200 million available by the conclusion of the following quarter (June 30).
So far, Moderna has shipped 30.4 million doses. Citing the government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the company added that roughly 10.1 million have been administered to Americans so far.
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The government has committed to buying 200 million mRNA-1273 doses; it also holds an option for an additional 300 million if necessary.
President Joe Biden has set an ambitious target of 100 million vaccinations in his administration's first 100 days. As mRNA-1273 is one of only two vaccines to be authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) -- the other is BNT162b2 from Pfizer and BioNTech -- it will be an integral part of this effort.
Zooming out to a global scale, Moderna said that it has lifted its base case production estimate for 2021. This now stands at 600 million from the former 500 million doses. The company is currently hiring staff in order to reach a goal of producing up to 1 billion doses over the course of this year.
Moderna's update is good news for the fight against the coronavirus and consequently good news for the stock. On Tuesday, the company's shares rose by 3.4% in contrast to the slump of the S&P 500 index.
