European Commission secures fifth COVID-19 vaccine contract

A fifth contract was approved by the European Commission with pharmaceutical company CureVac, which will provide for an initial purpose of 225 million COVID-19 vaccine doses on behalf of all EU Member States. 

The contract includes an added option to request up to another 180 million doses, securing upwards of 300 doses for Member States. 

"The Commission has secured to date at least 1.2 billion doses and fulfils its commitment to ensuring equitable access to safe, effective and affordable vaccines not only for EU citizens but also for the world's poorest and most vulnerable people," Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. 

"Most of these vaccine candidates are in an advanced phase of clinical trials, hopefully authorisation will confirm these positive results, after which they will be quickly deployed and help us in overcoming the pandemic.”

This announcement cames a few days after the European Commission signed a contract with BioNTech-Pfizer, who are currently in phase three clinical trials for the production of a vaccine. The preliminary analysis of the vaccine has so far prevented more than 90% of the people it was administered to from contracting the virus. 

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Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said that this fifth vaccine advance purchase agreement will soon allow EU citizens and our economies to soon return to normality. "It is yet another milestone in our EU Vaccines Strategy, and evidence of the benefits of working together in a genuine European Health Union," she said. 

The European Commission presented a European strategy on 17 June for the development, manufactuing and distribution of vaccines against COVID-19. As part of the strategy, the Commission agrees to finance part of the upfront costs involved in vaccine production through advance purchase agreements in return for the right to buy a specified number of vaccine doses within a given time period.

CureVac had signed a €75 million loan agreement with the European Investment Bank on 6 July to aid in the development and large-scale production of vaccines.