The German laboratory BioNTech promised on Monday February 1 to deliver to the European Union (EU) up to 75 million additional doses in the second quarter of its anti-Covid-19 vaccine.

BioNTech / Pfizer plans to "increase deliveries from the week of February 15". 

The goal: to deliver "the quantity of doses we committed to in the first quarter" as well as "up to 75 million additional doses to the European Union in the second quarter" under existing contracts, Sierk explained. Poetting, Chief Financial Officer.

A summit meeting was held in Berlin on Monday between German leaders and several pharmaceutical groups to try to relaunch the vaccination campaign, which is trampling in Germany as in many European countries.

"Disappointment"

Discussions began on positive news, with the commitment of several laboratories to step up their production of anti-Covid vaccines, even if the quantities remain lower than what was initially agreed in the agreement with the EU.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended the deliveries of vaccine "slower" in the EU than elsewhere due in particular to the refusal of Europeans to issue emergency authorizations as the British did.

"It is true that it was slower on certain points but there are also good reasons that it is slower", she assured, specifying that the negotiations with the laboratories had been difficult, in particular on the question of their responsibility in meeting delivery deadlines.

"I understand the disappointment" of the population, she admitted.

The German media show no mercy for the EU, accused of ordering vaccines too late and of having badly negotiated.

Objective maintained

The AstraZeneca laboratory, which suffers the wrath of European leaders due to delays in deliveries, will finally increase by 30% in the first quarter of the deliveries of its vaccine authorized on Friday on the European market.

AstraZeneca had explained that it could only deliver "a quarter" of the doses initially promised to the EU due to a "drop in yields" in a European factory.

But the EU implicitly accuses AstraZeneca of having favored Great Britain to the detriment of its contractual obligations with Brussels.

"The timetables are restrictive", annoyed the Director General of Health in the Commission, Sandra Gallina, deploring a "real problem" for the Twenty-Seven.

However, the EU maintains its target of vaccinating 70% of adults by "the end of summer", European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday.

The German pharmacy giant Bayer has also announced that it will produce from 2022 the vaccine developed by its competitor CureVac.

It aims to produce 160 million doses in 2022.

For its part, the British government will lift an option to supply 40 million additional doses of Valneva's vaccine candidate for 2022, bringing the number of doses ordered from the Franco-Austrian laboratory to 100 million.

The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which brings together around 30 countries, on Monday launched a tool to track vaccinations in Europe, giving an overview of the evolution of campaigns in each country.

With AFP

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