Pfizer, Moderna, J&J Pledge To Make 240M COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Available In US By March-End

Pfizer Inc. PFE, Moderna Inc. MRNA and Johnson & Johnson JNJ said they are committed to making a total of 240 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines available in the U.S. by the end of March.

What Happened: The drug makers told a House subcommittee on Tuesday they are working on ramping up production of their vaccines to meet demand.

Pfizer said it expects to increase its shipment from about four to five million doses per week to more than 13 million doses per week by mid-March. The company added it is on track to make 120 million doses available for shipment by the end of March and an additional 80 million doses by the end of May.

Moderna said it is working to double its deliveries to the U.S. government by April to more than 40 million doses per month. The company plans to deliver the first 100 million doses to the government by the end of March.

Johnson & Johnson plans to begin shipping its single-dose vaccine immediately upon receiving emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and deliver 20 million doses by the end of March. The company’s vaccine is set to be reviewed by an FDA panel later this week.

Why It Matters: The U.S. is facing a shortage of vaccines as Pfizer and Moderna lagged in delivering on their promise to deliver 200 million doses by the end of March, Reuters reported earlier this month.

Moderna said it plans to increase the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses to up to 15 in each vial from the present doses after it received positive feedback from the FDA. This will help the company to produce and deliver the vaccine more quickly and also ease a manufacturing bottleneck.

Price Movement: Pfizer shares closed 1% lower at $33.91 on Tuesday, while Moderna shares closed almost 5.8% lower at $150.17 and Johnson & Johnson shares closed nearly 0.9% lower at $160.44.