The European Commission said Tuesday it has reached an agreement with BioNTech-Pfizer to get 10 million additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
With the additional doses, EU member states will receive over 200 million doses of vaccine in the second quarter of 2021.
"These doses would be drawn forward from the option of 100 million doses in the second BioNTech-Pfizer contract, foreseen for Q3 and Q4 of 2021," the commission said in a statement.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said additional doses "gives Member States room to manoeuvre and possibly fill gaps in deliveries."
"I know how critical Quarter 2 is for the roll-out of our vaccination strategies in the Member States. These accelerated 10 million doses will bring the total doses of BioNTech-Pfizer in Quarter 2 up to over 200 million," she said.
The EU has a 600-million-dose deal with BioNTech-Pfizer, including options.
The EU has so far approved the use of BioNTech-Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and most recently Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
On the other hand, the preliminary evaluation process of the vaccines developed by Novavax, Curevac and the Sputnik V vaccine of Russia continues.
