January 8 European Commission President Feng der Leyen said on the 8th that the European Union reached an agreement with Pfizer Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and German biotechnology companies to purchase 300 million more doses of the coronavirus vaccine jointly developed by the two companies.
Von der Leyen said at a press conference on the same day that the European Union had ordered 300 million doses of the vaccine before, but now it has purchased an additional 300 million doses, doubling the supply of the vaccine to the European Union.
The new part will be supplied from the second quarter of 2021 and will be supplied in the fourth quarter.
At present, the European Union has approved the conditional launch of two coronavirus vaccines, one jointly developed by Pfizer Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and German biotechnology companies, and the other is developed by Modena Company of the United States.
The total supply of these two vaccines to the EU is 760 million doses, which can meet the epidemic prevention needs of 380 million people (about 80% of the EU’s total population).
Von der Leyen said that the EU will evaluate more candidate vaccines in the coming weeks or months.
She said that the European Commission has signed a procurement contract for six coronavirus vaccines on behalf of the 27 countries of the European Union, and the total supply will reach 2.3 billion doses in the future, which can meet the needs of the EU and partner countries and regions.
