Moderna Inc.’s leader said the drugmaker is on track to produce enough doses of its new Covid-19 vaccine to help meet President-elect Joe Biden’s goal to administer 100 million vaccine doses in the first 100 days after he takes office on Wednesday.
Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel said Tuesday that Moderna plans to deliver 100 million doses of its shot, which requires two doses per person, for use in the U.S. by the end of March, with additional doses to follow. Pfizer Inc. and its partner BioNTech SE also are supplying doses of their vaccine to the U.S.
“I think from a supply standpoint from industry, we are well on track to deliver to the president’s goal,” Mr. Bancel said during an online interview for The Wall Street Journal’s Executive Membership Series.
Mr. Bancel cautioned that there are some issues beyond his company’s control, such as last-mile distribution hiccups in getting shots into arms, as well as the timely delivery of raw materials used to produce Moderna’s vaccine.
“We are always, you know, a day away from a stumble,” he said. If even one ingredient for its vaccine production doesn’t arrive on schedule, the company can’t start making a new batch and the scheduled production shift “will be lost forever,” he added.
