The European Commission, acting with and on behalf of the Member States through the Health Emergency Response and Preparedness Authority (HERA), and vaccine developers BioNTech-Pfizer, reached on Friday 26 May, an agreement to better respond to Member States’ estimates of the evolving need for Covid-19 vaccines.
The amendment to the vaccine supply contract takes account of the improved epidemiological situation, while continuing to guarantee access to the very latest version of the vaccine, should any worrying variants of Covid-19 emerge.
The agreement has enabled the following adjustments to be made (https://aeur.eu/f/73k ):
- a reduction in the quantity of doses purchased by the Member States under the contract. Following payment of a fee, originally contracted doses will be converted into optional orders;
- an extension in the length of time in which Member States will be able to take delivery of the vaccines (up to 4 years from now);
- the possibility to continue to have access to additional doses up to the original contracted volume until the end of the contract to meet needs, should cases rise, and the epidemiological situation deteriorate;
- continued access to vaccines adapted to new variants as soon as authorised by the regulators. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)