Argentina announces Covid-19 vaccine supply deal with Moderna

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Argentina on Thursday announced it would sign a covid-19 vaccine supply agreement with Moderna, as the country attempts to speed up the inoculation of its population and sidestep a possible third wave of the coronavirus.

Cabinet chief Santiago Cafiero told Argentina’s Congress that a deal would be signed with U.S.-based Moderna on Monday but did not detail the number of doses being bought or the agreed delivery dates.

Argentina has largely built its COVID-19 inoculation program around Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, China’s Sinopharm vaccine, and British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca’s vaccine. It has vaccinated 23.7 million of its 45 million inhabitants with at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 4.9 million people have received two.