Close-up image of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccination vial.
Hugh Hastings | Getty Images News | Getty Images
LONDON – According to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Pfizer will temporarily reduce the amount of doses of the coronavirus vaccine delivered in Europe.
Authorities said in a statement on Friday that delivery of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine would be reduced from next week “and for a period ahead.”
According to the NIPH, he received a message from Pfizer ‘just before 10am’ on Friday, according to a translation of the statement.
“We are forecasting 43,875 vaccine doses of Pfizer in week 3. It would appear that we are receiving 36,075 doses,” the statement said. A Pfizer spokesman was not immediately available for comment when CNBC contacted him.
This states that the temporary decrease in deliveries ‘is related to an improvement in production capacity’. “The temporary reduction will affect all European countries,” he added.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC’s Squawk Box on Tuesday that he was confident it could “dramatically increase” vaccine production this year with the goal of producing up to 2 billion doses.
Bourla also said that Pfizer currently has more doses of its vaccine available than has been used.
The European Union said last week it was doubling its stockpile of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said the agreement would allow the EU to buy another 300 million doses of its existing stock. The EU’s executive has been criticized for no longer buying the vaccine.