EU secures vaccine deals with Pfizer, and others for future pandemic

The European Commission has secured deals with Pfizer and several European drugmakers to reserve capacity to make up to 325 million vaccines per year in case of a future global health emergency, it said on Friday.

The agreement, first reported by Reuters, covers mRNA, vector-based and protein-based vaccines and does not relate to existing Covid-19 vaccine agreements between the EU and vaccine makers including US-based Pfizer. The European Commission said Europe needs to be better prepared for future health emergencies. The deal ensures that companies are ready to respond to a crisis by keeping their facilities up to date and monitoring their supply chains, “including stockpiling where necessary”, the Commission said. If a new public health emergency was to be declared, companies would “rapidly start production”, it said. But vaccine equity activists said the EU risked a repeat of what the World Health Organization dubbed “vaccine apartheid” during Covid-19.