Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE have announced that they would supply an additional 100 million doses of their Covid-19 vaccines to the 27 European Union member states in 2021.
This follows the decision of the European Union (EU) to exercise its option to buy an additional 100 million doses of the vaccine under its expanded purchase agreement which was signed on February 17.
“This brings the total number of doses to be delivered to the 27 EU members to 600 million in 2021,” the companies said in a statement.
According to a report from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the Covid-19 vaccine, COMIRNATY, is to be produced at BioNTech’s and Pfizer’s manufacturing sites in Europe.
The companies revealed plans to deliver 250 million doses to the EU in the second quarter, a fourfold increase on the first quarter’s agreed quantity.
The Chief business and Chief commercial officer of BioNTech, Sean Marett, said, “The additional 100 million doses from this option exercise will further help to support the acceleration of the vaccination campaigns throughout the EU.
“We now intend to deliver a total of 600 million doses to the EU this year, which covers two-thirds of the EU population and represents the largest cumulative supply agreement for COMIRNATY that we have agreed to date globally.’’
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The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, COMIRNATY, had been granted conditional marketing authorisation by the European Medicines Agency to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 in people from 16 years of age. The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA’s) human medicines committee (CHMP) has completed its rigorous evaluation of COMIRNATY®, concluding by consensus that sufficiently robust data on the quality, safety and efficacy of the vaccine are now available.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, said that they remain committed to moving as quickly and safely as possible to bring this vaccine to more people in Europe, as the deadly virus continues to wreak havoc across the continent.
He also pointed out that to date, they have met all of their supply commitments to the EU and plan to deliver 250 million doses to the European Union in Q2, a fourfold increase on Q1’s agreed quantity.