The European Commission has announced that it has approved a contract with Valneva for the supply of a vaccine against covid. This is the eighth such contract, said a spokesman for the commission.
The treaty provides for the possibility for all EU countries to buy almost 27 million doses next year and up to 33 million doses in 2023. This vaccine was developed by the French manufacturer in collaboration with a US company.
The vaccine contains an inactive virus, chemically isolated from a live virus, the EC said in a statement. This is a traditional technology for the production of vaccines, which has been used since the 60s and 70s of the last century, with a high degree of safety, the statement added.
This technology is used in most flu vaccines and in many childhood vaccines. So far, it is the only expected such covid vaccine to be tested in Europe, the commission said. So far, the European Medicines Agency has not issued a positive assessment for the use of this preparation.