 "Pfizer")
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.
