Stll playing catch-up, EU to have received 107 million vaccine doses by end of week

By AFP 31 March 2021, 4:39 pm Edit

In this photo provided by Russian Direct Investment Fund, a COVID-19 vaccine is on display at the Nikolai Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, Russia, August 6, 2020. (Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/ Russian Direct Investment Fund via AP, File)

European Union member states will have received a total of 107 million doses of coronavirus vaccine by the end of this week, a European Commission spokeswoman says.

Deliveries for the first three months of the year are made up of 67.2 million doses from BioNtech/Pfizer, 29.8 million from AstraZeneca, and 9.8 million from Moderna, the commission says.

The overall figure was revised down dramatically after the Anglo-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca slashed the number it was providing from a contracted 120 million doses.

The production shortfall has contributed to a stuttering start to the EU’s vaccination campaign that has seen the bloc lag behind countries including the United States, Britain, and Israel.

Deliveries are expected to pick up considerably in the second quarter of the year, with the commission saying it should receive at least 300 million doses by the end of June.

That figure should include 55 million shots of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which officials hope will help speed up vaccination rates.