International
Moderna reduces production of COVID-19 vaccine
September 13 |
Drugmaker Moderna announced Wednesday that it is scaling back manufacturing of its COVID-19 vaccine, an updated version of which was approved this week by U.S. regulators.
Moderna said the decision is driven by lower post-pandemic demand that will help the company reach its target of 75% to 80% gross revenue growth sooner.
Moderna is in talks with its partners that fill vials and syringes with its messenger RNA-based COVID vaccines globally to reduce production, Stephen Hoge, president of the Massachusetts-based company, said in an interview.
The reduction, Hoge added, will help Moderna adapt to the endemic phase of the disease, which had led to a drop in demand for COVID vaccines as buyers have reduced orders for injections.
Moderna predicted in August that U.S. demand for the vaccine would reach between 50 million and 100 million doses in the fall season. About 153.8 million COVID injections were administered in the U.S. in 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“For the last two years, we’ve been in pandemic mode producing 1 billion doses a year,” Hoge said. “We’ve been waiting for the time when the pandemic is officially behind us and we need to restructure that manufacturing footprint.”
Following clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday, Moderna said it would begin shipping doses of the COVID vaccine throughout the United States.
The company has agreements to supply its vaccine to other countries, including Britain, Canada and Japan, but does not yet have an agreement with the European Union, according to Hoge, who also said COVID was the focus of Moderna’s manufacturing agreement with China.
Hoge added that while Moderna is urgently working to reduce COVID manufacturing, talks with third-party manufacturers, which will help produce the upcoming respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza vaccines that investors hope will begin to replace Moderna’s dwindling COVID revenues, could extend into next year.
“These are relationships we will need for decades to come,” Hoge said.
Moderna also announced Wednesday that it had completed the regulatory filing for its RSV vaccine and that its flu vaccine had generated a stronger immune response against all four A and B strains of the virus compared with traditional flu vaccines in a late-stage trial.
The efficacy of Moderna’s flu vaccine was demonstrated in all age groups, including older patients, and proved to be safe and tolerable, according to the company.
Moderna also said it had found its vaccine to be equal or superior to Sanofi’s high-dose flu vaccine in a separate initial comparative study.
International
Trump Orders Construction of New ‘Golden Fleet’ to Revitalize U.S. Naval Superiority
President Donald Trump issued an executive order this Monday for the immediate construction of two new warships that will bear his name. These vessels will be the pioneers of what he described as the “Golden Fleet,” a future generation of “Trump-class” battleships that he claimed would be “100 times more powerful” than those currently in service.
The announcement took place at his private residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. The President indicated that following the initial two ships, the administration aims to commission up to 25 additional vessels. He is scheduled to meet with Florida-based contractors next week to expedite production, criticizing existing defense firms for failing to deliver results efficiently.
This naval expansion is a cornerstone of Trump’s goal to revitalized the American shipbuilding industry and address the strategic gap between the U.S. and competitors like China.
The move comes amid heightened geopolitical tension. Just last week, Trump ordered the seizure of all sanctioned tankers involved with Venezuela’s “ghost fleet” to cripple the country’s crude oil industry. Since December 10, the U.S. military—deployed in the Caribbean under the guise of counter-narcotics operations—has already detained two tankers linked to Venezuelan oil transport.
International
U.S. Judge Blocks ICE from Re-detaining Salvadoran Erroneously Deported Under Trump Administration
A U.S. federal judge ruled this Monday, December 22, that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is prohibited from re-detaining Salvadoran national Kilmar Ábrego García, who was erroneously deported to El Salvador earlier this year during the administration of President Donald Trump.
During a hearing in Maryland, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled that Ábrego García must remain free on bail through the Christmas holidays, concluding that his initial detention lacked a legal basis. The ruling follows a request from his legal team for a temporary restraining order to prevent ICE from carrying out a new arrest.
Earlier this month, on December 11, Judge Xinis ordered his release from a Pennsylvania migrant detention center after determining that the government had detained him without a formal deportation order. In 2019, an immigration judge had already ruled that Ábrego could not be returned to El Salvador because his life was in danger.
Despite that protection, Ábrego García was deported in March 2025 following a raid by the Trump administration. Officials argued at the time that he was a gang member, and he was sent directly to the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) in El Salvador. In June, he was returned to the United States to face a new trial for alleged human smuggling—a charge he denies.
On Monday, Judge Xinis also temporarily invalidated a new deportation order issued by an immigration judge following Ábrego’s recent release, granting him legal protection through the coming weeks. His trial is scheduled to begin in Tennessee in January 2026.
International
Fire at substation triggers major blackout in San Francisco
The U.S. city of San Francisco was plunged into darkness Saturday night after a power outage left about 130,000 customers without electricity, although the utility company said service was restored to most users within hours.
Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) said in a statement posted on X that nearly 90,000 homes had their power restored by 9:00 p.m. local time (05:00 GMT on Sunday), while the remaining 40,000 customers were expected to have service restored overnight.
Large areas of the city, a major technology hub with a population of around 800,000, were affected by the blackout, which disrupted public transportation and left traffic lights out of service during the busy weekend before Christmas, a crucial period for retail businesses.
“I know it’s been a difficult day,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a video posted on social media from the city’s emergency operations center. “There has been progress, but for those still without power, we want to make sure they are safe and checking in on their neighbors,” he added.
Lurie said police officers and firefighters advised residents to stay home as much as possible. He also noted that officers and traffic inspectors were deployed to manage intersections where traffic lights were not functioning.
The mayor confirmed that the outage was caused by a fire at an electrical substation. Parts of the city were also covered in fog, further complicating conditions during the incident.
As a result of the blackout, many businesses were forced to close despite it being the weekend before Christmas. The sudden drop in shopper traffic ahead of the holiday is “devastating” for retailers, the manager of home goods store Black & Gold told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Trump Orders Construction of New ‘Golden Fleet’ to Revitalize U.S. Naval Superiority
U.S. Judge Blocks ICE from Re-detaining Salvadoran Erroneously Deported Under Trump Administration
Fire at substation triggers major blackout in San Francisco
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