Moderna

US-based Moderna to send 25m vaccine doses to Australia

The government said 10 million doses of the mRNA vaccine are due to arrive by the end of the year, and 15 million shots in 2022.

Australia's rollout has lagged behind other nations after initial delays and caution over the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The country has so far administered 2.8 million shots of a Covid vaccine.

That is well short of the 50 million jabs needed to fully vaccinate its population. The country's immunisation programme was recently opened to all Australians aged over 50.

US approves Moderna as second Covid-19 vaccine

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorised the US-made jab about a week after approving a Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine which is now being distributed.

The US has agreed to purchase 200 million doses of Moderna, and six million may be ready to ship now.

The country has the world's highest numbers of Covid-19 deaths and cases.

It has recorded at least 311,529 deaths and 17,269,542 infections, according to Johns Hopkins University.