Vaccine exports from US accelerate as Moderna ships abroad

Moderna Inc. has begun exporting U.S.-produced Covid-19 vaccines to other countries, a key step as U.S. vaccine supply begins to be shipped abroad.

The company’s early U.S. production had been fully absorbed by a single buyer -- the federal government -- as the country, under the administrations of Donald Trump and then Joe Biden, used wartime powers to prioritize its orders and make sure it was the front of the line for vaccine supply for Americans. Both the Biden administration and Moderna confirmed this week that the company has begun to ship vaccine supply abroad from its U.S. production, though it’s not clear when that began, how many doses have been shipped or where they’ve been sent. Pfizer Inc. has also begun shipping from the U.S. to countries including Mexico, Canada and Uruguay.