BioCentury
ARTICLE | Product Development

Adding up manufacturing capacity for COVID-19 vaccines

Collective COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing projections top 8 billion doses annually

June 3, 2020 7:14 PM UTC

COVID-19 vaccine makers have collectively projected manufacturing capacity for more than 8 billion doses next year, a number that would be big enough to cover the entire global population if all of the vaccines were successful and required only a single dose.

Initial shortages seem a near certainty, however, given that even if several vaccines eventually prove safe and effective, they won’t become available at the same time. On top of that, the shortages of vials, needles and other requirements for mass vaccination programs will hamper the ability to effectively immunize whole populations...