(Reuters) -Moderna Inc stated on Thursday it has agreed to push again some COVID-19 vaccine deliveries to the European Union by a number of months to later in 2022 or early subsequent 12 months.

Shares of Moderna (NASDAQ:) fell practically 2% earlier than the bell over the delay, regardless that the corporate caught to its vaccine gross sales forecast of $21 billion for 2022.

Supply of the doses had been initially deliberate within the second quarter, the European Fee stated in an announcement.

The bloc had additionally tweaked agreements with Pfizer Inc (NYSE:) and German companion BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:) in April to delay vaccine deliveries by three months because it gears up for a possible booster marketing campaign within the fall.

The area has additionally seen a drop in demand for COVID-19 vaccines.

The settlement helps “optimise provide preparations and align them with present demand ranges in our Member States”, stated Stella Kyriakides, commissioner for Well being and Meals Security.

Switzerland well being officers stated final week that the nation will destroy greater than 620,000 expired doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine as demand for the photographs drops dramatically.

Underneath the amended settlement with Moderna, EU international locations will even get entry to a next-generation vaccine focused at each the Omicron variant and the unique pressure, whether it is authorized.