From May, vaccine production at Pfizer in Puurs will be increased by 20 percent. The European Medicines Agency EMA gave the green light for this on Friday.
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It was Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, who announced the increase in production after a visit to Pfizer-Puurs. This makes Pfizer-Puurs one of the largest vaccine factories in Europe. Albert Bourla, the top executive of the pharmaceutical company, announced that from May onwards, 100 million corona vaccines will be produced every month in Puurs, which should also make it possible to deliver much more vaccines to the European Union.
Top priority
The Belgian vaccine factory of the US pharmaceutical group is well on its way to becoming one of the most important links in the production of covid-19 vaccines for the EU and many other countries in the coming years. The American concern is aiming for a production of 2.5 billion doses for this year and CEO Bourla expects to go a step further in 2022. Pfizer-Puurs will be responsible for a significant part of this.
For the European Commission, the mRNA corona vaccine from the US-German partnership Pfizer / BioNTech has become a top priority. Von der Leyen said that an additional 1.8 billion vaccines will be ordered from Pfizer in the very near future. For 2021, the counter so far stands at 600 million doses. The new supply contract will run until the end of 2023. It would appear that the ongoing supply problems of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine and the discussions about its possible side effect have led the European Commission to focus so heavily on the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine.
Boostershots
According to Von der Leyen, the additional vaccines are needed to be able to give ‘booster shots’ (additional injections) until the end of 2023 and to block the virus variants. Thanks to these large orders, teens and children will also be able to be vaccinated, added the Commission President.
Von der Leyen further assured that vaccination in the European Union is hitting full speed. She said she was confident that there will be enough vaccines to vaccinate 70 percent of all adults in the EU by the end of July. So far, the target has been September this year.
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