The EU has reached an agreement with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to buy 300 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine if it becomes available, the European Commission said on Friday.
The European Commission plans to buy the doses on behalf of the 27 EU countries should the vaccine be found to be safe and effective.
The purchase agreement also includes an option to buy 100 million doses more.
This comes a day after the commission announced having concluded talks with Johnson & Johnson.
Countries across the world are racing to secure sufficient vaccines for their population.
Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands had already signed an initial contract with AstraZeneca in June for more than 300 million doses of a vaccine that is still in the experimental phase.
Asked whether this was a separate agreement to the one by the EU, spokesperson Vivian Loonela said the commission was “in talks” with member states about their needs.
In July, the European Commission signed a contract with pharmaceutical giant Gilead to buy 30,000 doses of COVID-19 drug Remdesivir, which is used to treat severe cases.
Britain orders up to 90m doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines
Britain said on Friday it had signed a deal for the supply of up to 90 million doses of potential Covid-19 vaccines under development.
New in-principle agreements were made with Novavax, a U.S. vaccine development company, and Belgium’s Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies that is part of Johnson and Johnson, the government said.
Novavax is to provide 60 million doses, while 30 million doses will be secured from Janssen.
Britian – a country of 66.6 million – has following Friday’s announcement secured early access to about 340 million vaccine doses.
They were from six different candidates, across four different vaccine types.
“The government’s strategy to build a portfolio of promising vaccine candidates will ensure we have the best chance possible of finding one that works,” Business Secretary Alok Sharma said in a statement.
Novavax plans to manufacture some of the vaccine in Britain at Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees.
