Vaccines: EU signs new contract for 1.8 billion doses with Pfizer-BioNTech

Empty vials of the anti-Covid Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, at the regional vaccination center, January 22, 2021 in Lduwigsburg (Germany).

THOMAS KIENZLE AFP / Archives

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2 min

The European Union signs a gigantic new contract with Pfizer-BioNTech for 1.8 billion doses.

The announcement by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen while a European summit is being held in Porto. 

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With our special

correspondent

in Porto,

Anthony Lattier

The first European vaccine orders from Pfizer-BioNTech totaled 600 million doses.

By signing this time a mega-contract of 1.8 billion doses (half of which are optional), the Europeans are clearly betting on the Messenger RNA technology used by the alliance of German and American laboratories.  

" 

Happy to announce that the Commission has just approved a contract for 900 million firm doses (+900 million optional) with BioNTech and Pfizer,

 " tweeted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Happy to announce that @EU_Commission has just approved a contract for guaranteed 900 million doses (+900 million options) with @BioNTech_Group @Pfizer for 2021-2023.



Other contracts and other vaccine technologies will follow.

- Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) May 8, 2021

Negotiations are also underway with Moderna, which also uses this technology.

This is done at the expense of laboratories that manufacture other types of vaccines 

such as AstraZeneca

.

For the European Union, this order is intended to take a "new step" in its vaccination campaign: protect populations against variants and vaccinate more people, such as adolescents and children.  

Deliveries will begin this year but these doses are mostly expected for next year and the year after.

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  • European Union

  • Vaccines

  • Coronavirus

  • Ursula von der Leyen