(Adds detail, quotes)
BRUSSELS, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The European Union reached a
deal with Pfizer and BioNTech for 300 million
additional doses of their COVID-19 vaccine, doubling the amount
of doses from these producers, the head of the European
Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.
"The European Commission today proposed to the EU Member
States to purchase an additional 200 million doses of the
COVID-19 vaccine produced by BioNTech and Pfizer, with the
option to acquire another 100 million doses," it said in a
statement.
"This would enable the EU to purchase up to 600 million
doses of this vaccine, which is already being used across the
EU," the statement said.
Von der Leyen said 75 million of the additional doses would
be delivered in the second quarter of this year.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio; editing by Jan Strupczewski
@fraguarascio)