Moderna to supply 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Argentina

(Reuters) -Moderna Inc said on Monday it had signed a supply agreement with the government of Argentina for 20 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine or its updated variant booster vaccine candidate.

The company said delivery was expected to begin in the first quarter of 2022.

Last week, the Latin American country said it was looking to sign a supply deal with the U.S. vaccine maker, in an attempt to speed up the inoculation of its population and sidestep a possible third wave of the coronavirus.

So far, the country's vaccine program has been largely built around Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, China's Sinopharm and the AstraZeneca Plc vaccine developed with Oxford University.

As of Monday, Argentina had registered 4.6 million cases of COVID-19 and 98,781 related deaths.

Moderna has received emergency authorization for the use of its COVID-19 vaccine in adults from health agencies in more than 50 countries.

(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)