Europe to receive Omicron vaccines within days of approval, says MEP

Europe to receive Omicron vaccines within days of approval, says MEP

LONDON, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Omicron-adapted vaccines will be delivered to the European Union within days of regulatory approval, European member of parliament Peter Liese said on Wednesday.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is expected to make a decision this week on Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines tailored to target the older BA.1 Omicron variant as well as the original strain that first emerged in China.

Moderna will provide the EU with 70 million vaccine doses in the first two months, with eight to 11 million expected to be available as early as the first week of September, and Germany is scheduled to receive four million doses in the first two weeks after approval, Liese said in a statement.

Meanwhile, up to 29 million doses of the vaccine made by Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech (22UAy.DE) are expected to be delivered in September to Germany alone, including 10 million in the first two weeks after approval, he added.

“We cannot comment on future deliveries,” a European Commission spokesman said.

Representatives of Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech were not immediately available for comment.

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