U.S. sets $1.74 billion deal with Moderna for updated COVID vaccine

The U.S. government said on Friday it agreed to a $1.74 billion deal for 66 million doses of a Moderna Inc COVID vaccine updated for the Omicron subvariant for use in a fall and winter booster campaign, sending Moderna shares up 3%. Combined with 105 million doses the government already agreed to buy from Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech SE for $3.2 billion, the latest deal puts the U.S. booster dose supply at about 171 million shots.