LAST UPDATE | 16 Mar 2021

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION has agreed a top-up to vaccine deliveries for the second quarter of the year with pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech. 

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this morning announced the agreement which involves an accelerated delivery of an additional 10 million doses over the next three months.

This will bring the total EU deliveries of this vaccine to 200 million for that quarter.

Ireland’s share of that (around 1.1%) will be more than two million doses. 

Today’s top-up of 10 million will result in an additional 110,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in Ireland in Q2. 

Some good news today on vaccine supplies. European Commission has agreed with Pfizer / Biontech that several million shots due later this year will be brought forward to Q2. Ireland will receive approximately 110,000 of these.

— Stephen Donnelly (@DonnellyStephen) March 16, 2021

Von der Leyen said this will give member states room to manoeuvre and possibly fill gaps in deliveries. 

“I know how critical Quarter 2 is for the roll-out of our vaccination strategies in member states,” she said. 

These additional doses are to be drawn forward from the option of 100 million doses in the second contract with Pfizer/BioNTech, foreseen for the third and fourth quarters of this year. 

The proposal from the Commission will now go forward for approval by member states in the joint steering board.