Pfizer, EU push back COVID vaccine delivery to help booster campaign

Pfizer and BioNTech are currently testing other versions of the vaccine targeted at the Omicron variant of the coronavirus

Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech SE said on Friday they had agreed to push back deliveries of their COVID-19 vaccines to the European Union by three months as the bloc prepares for a potential booster campaign in the fall.

The companies amended their supply agreement with the European Commission to push back delivery of doses scheduled for June through August until September through the fourth quarter of this year.

“This amendment meets legitimate concerns on matching supply and demand, whilst ensuring security of vaccine supply if and when this is needed later in the year,” EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in a statement.

Pfizer and BioNTech are currently testing other versions of the vaccine targeted at the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. If one of those vaccines is authorised by the autumn or winter period, EU countries will have access to the deliveries in the form of the adapted vaccines, the European Commission said.

The change of delivery schedule does not impact the companies’ full-year revenue outlook or the full-year commitment of doses to be delivered to the region in 2022, Pfizer and its German partner said.

Pfizer, by far the main supplier to the EU, agreed last May with EU states to deliver up to 1.8 billion vaccines for up to 35 billion euros, in the largest supply deal ever signed during the pandemic.