IRELAND is to be given an extra 750,000 doses of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine in the second quarter of the year, according to the EU.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed this morning that 75 million doses of the vaccine would be being delivered to EU member states between April 1 and June 30.
It's estimated that Ireland will receive around 757,500 doses of the jab over the space of those three months.
Last month, the EU signed an agreement to secure up to 600 million doses of the vaccine before the end of 2021.
In a tweet, president von der Leyen said: "We are working with pharmaceutical companies to ensure vaccines are delivered to Europeans.
"BioNTech/Pfizer will deliver 75 million of additional doses in the second quarter of the year - and up to 600 million in total in 2021."
Extra doses of Covid-19 vaccines are a welcome sight in Ireland, particularly after the country's vaccination programme had slowed due to supply issues with AtraZeneca, who last month said they'd be unable to produce and distribute the amount of the vaccines they'd initially promised to EU member states.
Despite the problems, it was announced recently that Ireland will receive roughly 100,000 extra doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, despite the supply issue and production delay.
Delivery of those vaccines will also reportedly begin one week earlier than originally anticipated.
The news comes following a video conference between Ms von der Leyen and the CEOs of the major companies who are supplying the EU with vaccine doses.
"The discussion explored requirement for very rapid development, manufacturing and regulatory approval of vaccines for Covid-19 variants in the EU," a European Commission statement read.
"It was a very constructive meeting, with numerous practical suggestions.
"Further discussions will take place with the industry and other relevant sectors over the following weeks."
