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(Adds detail, context, Pfizer)
BRUSSELS, March 16 (Reuters) - The European Commission
expects to receive more than 200 million doses of COVID-19
vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech in the
second quarter, it said on Tuesday, putting the European Union
on course to meet its inoculation target.
The EU aims to vaccinate at least 255 million people, or 70%
of its adult population, by the end of the summer.
It has faced criticism of a slow rollout amid supply delays
from some drugmakers, hiccups in vaccination plans and the
suspension of inoculations using the AstraZeneca vaccine
due to potential health issues.
The new expected deliveries from Pfizer include 10 million
doses originally expected in the third and fourth quarters, the
Commission said.
"These accelerated 10 million doses will bring the total
doses of BioNTech-Pfizer in quarter two up to over 200 million,"
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, revealing for
the first time the volume of doses expected from Pfizer in the
April-June quarter.
Pfizer on Tuesday confirmed the EU statement regarding
second-quarter supply.
"This is very good news. It gives member states room to
manoeuvre and possibly fill gaps in deliveries," von der Leyen
said.
The additional doses would be moved forward from an option
of 100 million doses in a second contract the EU signed in
January with Pfizer and BioNTech, the EU statement said.
In total the EU has booked 600 million doses from the two
companies in two separate contracts.
It is unclear whether this announcement could lead to
changes in the EU's overall delivery forecasts. The Commission
said last week it expected 300 million doses in the second
quarter from all the vaccine makers it had contracts with.
The bloc in the second quarter expects 55 million doses from
Johnson & Johnson and 35 million from Moderna,
according to a delivery schedule published by the Italian
government and an internal document on supply forecasts from
Germany's health ministry.
AstraZeneca last week announced it aimed to deliver to the
27-nation bloc 70 million doses in the second quarter from its
original contractual obligation of 180 million.
(Reporting by Sabine Siebold amd Francesco Guarascio; editing
by Marine Strauss and Jason Neely)
