European Union Turns To Pfizer After Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Suspension

BioNTech/Pfizer is bringing forward delivery of 50 million doses to the second quarter, starting this month, to help make up for the shortfall of the J&J jabs that were meant to start rolling out, she said in a televised statement.

The EU is turning more heavily to BioNTech/Pfizer to make up for suspended Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses and for longer-term needs to fight the mutating coronavirus, its chief Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday. BioNTech/Pfizer is bringing forward delivery of 50 million doses to the second quarter, starting this month, to help make up for the shortfall of the J&J jabs that were meant to start rolling out, she said in a televised statement. The European Union is also negotiating with BioNTech/Pfizer for 1.8 billion doses of a second-generation of its mRNA vaccine to combat variants, to be delivered in 2022 and 2023, she said. "As we can see, with the announcement by Johnson & Johnson yesterday, there are still many factors that can disrupt the planned delivery schedules of vaccines," she said, referring to the company's decision to suspend European deliveries while rare blood clot cases possibly linked to its shot are investigated in the United States.