European Union countries will receive 50 million more coronavirus vaccines produced by Pfizer and BioNTech in the second quarter, the head of the EU Commission said on Wednesday, as deliveries expected at the end of the year will be brought forward.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the earlier deliveries, which will start this month instead of in October, will take total supplies to the EU from Pfizer to 250 million doses in the second quarter in a move meant to compensate for lower supplies from AstraZeneca and possible problems with Johnson & Johnson.
“I am pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement with BioNTech-Pfizer to once again speed up the delivery of vaccines,” she said.
“This will substantially help consolidate the roll-out of our vaccination campaigns.”
