Moderna is scaling back expectations for the number of COVID-19 vaccine deliveries it expects to make this year and the revenue it will record from them.
Issues including longer delivery times for exports and a temporary impact from expanding the company's capacity to fill vials with vaccine and package them for shipping, which may shift some deliveries to early 2022, the drugmaker said Thursday. The company now expects full-year, 2021 product sales of between $15 billion and $18 billion.
That’s down from a prediction for $20 billion in sales that it made in August.
The company now expects to deliver between 700 million to 800 million doses this year, down from a previous forecast for 800 million to 1 billion.
Moderna has an emergency use authorization for the vaccine in adults but is still waiting for U.S. regulators to grant a similar authorization for 12- to 17-year olds. Regulators are studying the rare risk of a heart inflammation that has shown up in some people who have received the shots.
Additional reporting by The Associated Press.
