The agreement makes it possible for all member states to access the vaccine at cost price during the pandemic, according to Astra Zeneca. The agreement also secures the possibility of redistributing vaccine doses to other European countries during the crisis.

"This first vaccine agreement with the European Commission will ensure that millions of Europeans have access to AZD1222 once it has been approved," Astra Zeneca's CEO Pascal Soriot wrote in a comment.

He hopes that deliveries of the first doses will be possible by the end of 2020.

Builds the immune system

The agreement that has now been reached with the European Commission is based on an agreement in June with an alliance of large EU countries led by Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands.

Tests of the potential vaccine published in July showed that it was tolerated and produced a robust immune system against covid-19 in all participants. Continued tests are still ongoing, including in the United Kingdom, Brazil and South Africa, while tests are also planned in the USA, Japan and Russia.

capacity of three billion doses

AZD1222 has been developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford and the university spin-off Vaccitech and agreements are now in place with countries around the world to build up a delivery capacity of up to three billion vaccine doses.