COVID-19 vaccine sales push Moderna past expectations in Q2

By TOM MURPHY
AP Health Writer

Better-than-expected COVID-19 vaccine sales pushed Moderna past Wall Street’s second-quarter forecasts. The company said Wednesday its Spikevax vaccine brought in $4.53 billion during the quarter. FactSet says analysts were looking for around $3.6 billion. Both numbers represent a drop from the nearly $6 billion in vaccine sales during the year’s first quarter, when a virus surge through the United States pushed more people to seek protection. But those sales could pick up again later this year. Moderna has developed an updated version of its vaccine for a fall booster campaign, and federal regulators recently endorsed the vaccine for children.