The European Union may have missed the opportunity to purchase an additional 200 million doses of the Corona vaccine from Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech. She writes the German magazine Der Spiegel. The European Union ordered 300 million doses of that vaccine, but had the option of ordering 500 million.
Although EU countries may eventually start vaccination, there is much criticism about this late start date. Many other countries – such as the United States, United Kingdom and Israel – have been vaccinating people against the corona virus for some time.
The German magazine Der Spiegel states that Germany, and is far behind other parts of the world due to the expansion of the rest of the European Union. In doing so, they not only look at the late start date, but especially the potential shortages in the future. The European Union appears to order far fewer vaccines than other countries.
Pfizer / BioNTech
The most obvious conclusion is that the European Union may have refused to order additional doses of the Corona vaccine from Pfizer / BioNechech. Today there are 200 million of these vaccines for the European Union, with the latter having the option to produce 100 million. However, according to a source close to the talks, the European Union had a chance to order 500 million doses. However, that proposal has not been accepted.
The decision not to give more vaccines than Pfizer / BioNTech in November is a notable one. At that time, that vaccine was already able to produce very good results from tests and promised to become one of the fastest and most reliable corona vaccine.
However, the European Union ordered only 300 million doses of the Corona vaccine from the French company Sanofi. Therefore France did not want to order more from the German company BioNTech. Unfortunately, Sanofi vaccines will not be able to help us in the near future. The company recently announced that there were development problems that prevented their vaccine from being expected before the end of the year.
modern
A similar story can be heard about the Corona vaccine of Modern. The vaccine will be the second to be approved in the European Union in January. Nevertheless, only 80 million of these doses will be available throughout Europe, with an additional option for an additional 80 million at a later date. However, according to Modern CEO Stephen Bansell, the company offered 300 million doses. That proposal was also rejected.
Hope for AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson
Many people from all over Europe expect to be able to vaccinate quickly, currently focusing on two new vaccines: AstraZeneca and Janssen Pharmacutica / Johnson & Johnson. The vaccine from Belgium’s Jansen Firmasutica is on its way to receiving approval around March. The European Union ordered 200 million doses for 200 million doses, with another option.
In contrast, AstraZeneca’s vaccine in association with the Austrian University is highly questionable. Many experts have questions about the results of their tests, leaving it uncertain whether this vaccine will be approved soon. However, it is precisely this vaccine that the European Union ordered the highest dose: 400 million. At 1.78 Euros per dose, it was the cheapest ever.
Finally, there is also the Corona vaccine from the German Curevac, of which the European Union ordered 225 million doses. However, that vaccine will not be available even before summer.
