Trump announces deal with Moderna for 100 million doses of potential vaccine

The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it has reached a deal with the biotechnology company Moderna for 100 million doses of its potential coronavirus vaccine. 

The agreement is for about $1.5 billion, meaning the government is paying about $15 per dose, and the vaccine will then be given to patients for free. 

The Trump administration has made several other similar deals as it provides funding for multiple potential vaccines, with the hope of having one ready to begin distributing by the end of the year. 

President Trump announced the agreement from his White House press briefing as he seeks to highlight progress on a vaccine. He said he also met earlier in the day with the leaders of the Operation Warp Speed initiative aimed developing a vaccine. 

Of all the potential vaccines the government is funding, Trump said there is “tremendous promise in every single one of them and we have many of them and they’re years ahead of schedule.”

“The military is ready to go,” he added. “They’re ready to deliver a vaccine to Americans as soon as one is fully approved by the [Food and Drug Administration] and we’re moving very close to that approval.”

Some Democrats and public health experts have expressed concern about Trump pressuring the FDA to approve a vaccine too quickly, though the FDA has pledged it will follow the data.