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EU strikes world’s biggest vaccine deal with Pfizer and BioNTech

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visiting the Pfizer factory in the Belgian town of Puurs on April 23
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visiting the Pfizer factory in the Belgian town of Puurs on April 23

The European Commission said it expects to seal the world's biggest vaccine supply deal within days, buying up to 1.8 billion doses of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine for the next few years.

The news comes as the World Health Organisation warned that shots remained out of reach for the world's poorest people.

The vaccines from the US drugmaker and its German partner BioNTech would be delivered over 2021-2023, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during a visit to Pfizer's vaccine plant in Puurs, Belgium.

The agreement would be enough to inoculate the 450 million EU population for two years and comes as the bloc seeks to shore up long-term supplies.

This is the third contract agreed by the bloc with the two companies, which have already agreed to supply 600 million doses of the two-dose vaccine this year under two previous contracts.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday that the EU will have enough to inoculate at least 70 per cent of EU adults by the end of July.

The EU chief had previously set a goal of late September.

The announcement comes as the Commission looks to sever ties with AstraZeneca after the drugmaker slashed its delivery targets due to production problems.

On Friday it said it was still deciding whether to take legal action against the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company.

An EU official said the supply deal was agreed in principle but that both sides needed a few days to iron out final terms.

"We will conclude in the next days. It will secure the doses necessary to give booster shots to increase immunity,"Ms von der Leyen said at a briefing at the Puurs factory.

Pfizer has scrambled to boost output in recent months at its US and Belgian plants to meet growing demand.

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Puurs is expected to have the capacity to produce more than 100 million doses by May.

Separately, the EU drug regulator said it had approved an increase in batch sizes for shots made there, which von der Leyen said will mark a 20 per cent increase in output.

A company official said has exported about 300 million vaccines to more than 80 countries around the world.

Still, the deal will likely stir the debate about the widening gap with lower-income countries as the world's wealthiest nations scoop up stocks and race ahead with inoculation campaigns.

On Friday, World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said vaccines remain out of reach in the lowest-income countries, in comments made marking the first anniversary of the COVAX dose-sharing facility.

"Nearly 900 million vaccine doses have been administered globally, but over 81 per cent have gone to high- or upper middle-income countries, while low-income countries have received just 0.3 per cent," Mr Tedros said about the ACT (Access to COVID-19 Tools) Accelerator set up a year ago.

The United States has given more than 40 per cent of its population at least one dose, while in India, where infections have hit records, only 8 per cent have had a first dose and many African countries only 1 per cent, according to a Reuters analysis.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said the figures are "unacceptable".