Pfizer's slowdown in vaccine production will not affect shipments to Europe, and all planned deliveries will be on time. This was stated by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
"Now for us is important that we manage now the situation of the delivery of the vaccines. And I got, like many of you, the news today that Pfizer announced delays. I immediately called the CEO of Pfizer and he explained that there is a production delay in the next weeks. But he reassured me that all guaranteed doses of the first quarter will be delivered in the first quarter. He is personally on the case on reducing the delay period and to make sure that they will catch up as soon as possible. That was very important to convey the message to him that we urgently need the guaranteed doses within the first quarter," the president stated.
She noted that Europe is going through difficult times again. In many EU countries, the situation with coronavirus is serious. After the seasonal holidays, a new outbreak of infection took place, new strains of coronavirus were discovered in dozens of countries. All this led to new mandatory restrictions and a new burden on Europeans.
Earlier, Pfizer Company stated to temporarily reduce the volume of vaccine supplies to EU countries during the period of increase of its production capacities.
The company plans to increase production from 1.3 billion doses to 2 billion doses per year during this period of time.
