|
 Pfizer has said it can produce up to 1.3 billion doses around the
world this year. The new agreement with the EU comes on top of
another order for 300 million doses that the bloc agreed with Pfizer
and German partner BioNTech in November.
"We now have agreed with BioNTech and Pfizer to extend this
contract. With the new agreement we could purchase a total of up to
an additional 300 million doses of the BioNTech vaccine," Ursula von
der Leyen told a news conference on Friday.
Pfizer was more cautious. "We are in talks with the European
Commission about an amendment to our existing supply agreement for
COMIRNATY, the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine," it said in a
statement.
The move would allow EU governments to double their orders from
Pfizer to 600 million doses, von der Leyen said, as the 27-nation
bloc races to ramp up the vaccination of its 450 million people.
Each recipient of the Pfizer vaccine need two doses to develop
maximum protection.
In a separate announcement, the EU drug regulator changed its
recommendation for the use of the Pfizer vaccine, allowing the
extraction of six doses from a vial instead of five, confirming an
earlier Reuters story.
That would increase available doses by 20%, although it was not
clear whether Pfizer would charge more for the extra doses. The
company did not immediately respond to this question.
Von der Leyen said 75 million of the additional doses under the new
deal would be delivered in the second quarter of this year, and the
rest by the end of 2021. Pfizer said that in total 500 million doses
would be available to the EU by the end of this year, and an option
for another 100 million could be taken up.
PRODUCTION CAPACITY
The large EU order is likely to require an expansion of Pfizer-BioNTech
production capacity this year, as the companies have already deals
with other wealthy nations for large supplies in 2021.
[to top of second column] |
 They cut by half to 50 million
doses their production in 2020 after facing some
snags in securing supplies of vaccine
ingredients.
European officials said the companies were
working to expand production capacity in Europe.
Pfizer has agreed to sell the U.S. up to 600
million doses, of which 200 million have been
already ordered. Another 120 million doses are
reserved for Japan this year, and 40 million for
Britain, among disclosed deals.
Germany said on Monday it had agreed with BioNtech to supply 30
million additional doses in a side deal, although the timing of the
delivery is unclear.
The German move, agreed in September but revealed only this week as
the government faced pressures at home, appears to be in contrast
with EU agreements that forbid members to negotiate parallel deals
with vaccine makers.
"No member state on this legal binding basis is allowed to negotiate
in parallel or to have a contract in parallel," von der Leyen said.
But a Commission spokesman declined to comment on whether the German
deal was legal under EU agreements.
The new EU agreement includes a possible immediate order for 200
million doses and an additional option to buy another 100 million,
the Commission said.
Doses are usually shared among EU states in proportion to their
population, but it is unclear whether all governments will make
orders based on the new contract.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; additional reporting by Phil
Blenkinsop, Marine Strauss, Elvira Pollina, Andreas Rinke; Editing
by Jan Strupczewski, Edmund Blair and Nick Macfie)
[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content |
