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reThe EU contract with Biontech / Pfizer for up to 300 million additional doses of corona vaccination has cleared the final formal hurdle. The EU Commission finally accepted a second corresponding deal with the two companies on Monday, a spokesman said. Therefore, 200 million have been firmly requested, while Brussels has an option for another 100 million. The Commission proposed this in early January.
The product of the Mainz-based company Biontech and its US partner Pfizer was the first coronavirus vaccine approved in the EU. Originally, the commission had reserved 300 million cans. After criticizing insufficient vaccine availability, the agency proposed doubling the order to 600 million doses.
14 million cans delivered so far
Due to bottlenecks in production, vaccination campaigns in EU member states are still slow to start. Although funding from Moderna group and British-Swedish manufacturer Astra-Zeneca have now also been approved by the EU, according to disease control authority ECDC, so far only just under 14 million doses of vaccine have been delivered to member states.
According to the EU Commission in January, the first 75 million doses of the second order will be delivered in the second quarter of 2021 and the rest of the vaccine by the end of the year.
