The European Commission said it expects to seal the world’s biggest vaccine supply deal within days, securing up to 1.8 billion doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for the next few years as a debate rages over unfair access to shots for the world’s poorest people.
The vaccines from the U.S. drugmaker and its German partner BioNTech would be delivered over 2021-2023, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during a visit to Pfizer’s vaccine plant in Puurs, Belgium. The agreement, which is to include 900 million optional doses, would be enough to inoculate the 450 million EU population for two years and comes as the bloc seeks to shore up long-term supplies.
The agreement, which is to include 900 million optional doses, would be enough to inoculate the 450 million EU population for two years and comes as the bloc seeks to shore up long-term supplies. This is the third contract to be agreed by the bloc with the two companies, which have already committed to supplying 600 million shots of the two-dose vaccine this year under two previous contracts. Brussels is aiming to inoculate at least 70% of EU adults by the end of July.
A company official said the Puurs plant has exported about 300 million COVID-19 vaccines to more than 80 countries since it began producing them towards the end of last year. Still, the new deal will likely stir the debate about the widening gap with lower-income countries as the wealthiest nations scoop up stocks and race ahead with inoculation.
Reported compiled from the different News sources
