BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union has finalised a deal with Pfizer and BioNTech for the supply of an additional 300 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine, a European Commission spokesman told Reuters on Monday.
The EU secured 300 million Pfizer doses in November last year and announced a preliminary deal for 300 million more shots on Jan. 8, subject to talks about the terms of the new contract.
“The Commission has adopted the new contract today,” the spokesman said.
An official involved in talks with Pfizer said that under the new deal, EU states have already placed orders for 200 million doses to be delivered this year while talks about the timeline for the other 100 million shots were still underway.
“Discussions with the European Commission are ongoing,” a spokesman for Pfizer told Reuters on Monday. A spokesman for BioNTech declined to comment.
The EU’s executive has been heavily criticised over the last few weeks after vaccines suppliers, including Pfizer, announced delays in deliveries for the first three months of the year.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; Additional reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by David Clarke)
