European Union signed agreement to acquire 1.8 billion doses of Pfizer

The European Commission (EC) on Thursday signed the agreement already announced in April with Pfizer-BioNTech to buy 900 million vaccines against the coronavirus between the end of 2021 and 2023, with the option of an additional 900 million, as indicated by the Community Executive.

The agreement stipulates that from 2022 guarantees the delivery of vaccines, requires that their production takes place in the European Union (EU) and that the components essential for their manufacture are also obtained on Community territory.

It also reinforces the possibility that EU countries currently have to resell or donate the remaining doses to third countries or via the COVAX initiative.

“Production and delivery in the EU of up to 1.8 billion doses is guaranteed. Potential contracts with other producers will follow the same profit-for-all model ”, wrote the President of the EC, Ursula Von der Leyen, on his official Twitter account.

The Health Commissioner, Stella KyriakidesHe added that it was necessary to “stay one step ahead of the virus”. “This means having access to suitable vaccines to protect us against the threat of variants,” he added.

When announcing the deal, Von der Leyen said Brussels had committed to renewing the deal with Pfizer-BioNTech for guarantees offered in accordance with the current contract and because its vaccine is based on the new messenger RNA technology.

The goal is to have enough vaccines to be able to combat variants and be able to face vaccination of minors, as well as the organization of a third dose possible In the coming years.

On the other hand, Von der Leyen assured that at the end of this week the European Union will distribute a total of 260 million vaccines already available, and described the vaccination campaign as a “success”.

“In this way, it will be possible to vaccinate half of the adults in Europe”said the German, who admitted that if at the start of vaccination the EU could observe countries like the United States or the United Kingdom “with envy”, what matters is “the complete vision” .

The President of the EC affirmed that it was already possible to vaccinate 200 million Europeans and he insisted that the lead other countries initially had over the EU in vaccination against COVID-19 must be “put into perspective”.

Von der Leyen defended that the EU has achieved recover the initial delay of vaccinations and insisted that it had not only been successful in delivering doses to its own population, but also exporting (around 260 million) to other countries.

“We must be proud”, insisted the official, while ensuring that the EU is willing to “facilitate” the transfer of knowledge related to vaccine manufacturing, although he did not comment on the possibility of a temporary suspension of patents.

(With information from EFE)

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