, Spain, and Poland. They set out to pick the most promising candidates out of roughly 150 candidate vaccines, based on promising early data and ability to manufacture at scale, and sign deals to lock down early supplies.
Impatient, Germany began doing its own deals on the side with BioNTech and CureVac, both homegrown companies, in September. The commission closed three deals for the pricier mRNA vaccines in November, with CureVac , Moderna , and BioNTech-Pfizer . There are plenty of questions however about the choice of which vaccines to purchase, when and in what quantities. The delay in finalising a deal with BioNTech-Pfizer is viewed poorly.
AstraZeneca’s announcement in January that it could deliver only 31 million doses to the EU by April was a shock to the commission, which had initially expected north of 100 million, and later 80 million. In response, the commission went on the offensive, suggesting that doses made in the EU had been unjustly shipped elsewhere and declaring it would publish its contract with the pharmaceutical company to show that it was in breach.
As if you get opportunity to practice for a pandemic