OREANDA-NEWS. The European Union has contracted an additional 300 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine developed by the companies Pfizer (USA) and BioNTech (Germany). This was reported by Bloomberg agency, citing the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

“I’m particularly pleased that 75 million of this order will already be available as of quarter two onward,” von der Leyen said. The rest will be delivered in the third and fourth quarters, she added.

Like the previous one, the new agreement cnsists of two parts. The EU has placed a firm order for 200 million doses with the option to request an additional 100 million doses.

Bloomberg previously reported that the European Union is in talks with Pfizer and BioNTech to double the supply of the medication. In November, von der Leyen announced that the EU would buy 300 million doses of vaccine from Pfizer.

On January 6, the European Union issued a conditional permission to use the coronavirus vaccine developed by the American company Moderna. It means that the company will continue to provide test results for 2 years.