U.K. signs vaccine supply deal with Pfizer, Moderna over Omicron fears

	The country has now set a two-month target to provide the third dose of vaccines to every citizen aged above 18.
	The U.K. government is also set to sign vaccine deals with top companies like Novavax, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline.


The United Kingdom has reportedly ordered additional 114 million COVID-19 vaccines from drug-making giants Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech SE. This is intended towards securing the nation’s jab supplies amid the emergence of the new Omicron variant.

Confirming the news, the Department of Health added that the new deal is driven by the rising concerns of the new variant, with the vaccines being delivered between 2022-2023. The contracts also include access to the latest and modified vaccines that can be used to deal with Omicron or any other upcoming variant.

Notably, vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna are already being employed for various booster programs in the United Kingdom. The government had also accelerated the vaccination drive after Omicron was recognized as the variant of concern by the World Health Organization.

The country has now set a two-month target to provide the third dose of vaccines to every citizen aged above 18, sources claimed.

Meanwhile, the deal is quite a big win for Moderna that is slated to supply 60 million out of 114 million total vaccine doses. It is over three times the total of the company’s ongoing contract which was not renewed until now.

Sources with relevant information claimed that around 35 million doses of Pfizer vaccines will be supplied by August 2022. Moreover, the U.K. government is also set to sign vaccine deals with top companies like Novavax Inc., Sanofi S.A., and GlaxoSmithKline plc by next year.

It is worth mentioning that the nation has committed to donating 100 million vaccines doses to the countries in need by the middle of 2022. Thus, it will likely donate at least 30 million doses by the end of this year.

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https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/u-k-signs-new-pfizer-moderna-vaccine-deals-to-counter-omicron