Pfizer boss: We’ll triple Covid doses to 3billion

A TOP Pfizer executive has said he is ‘confident’ the US pharma giant will be able to t riple t he number of Covid vaccines it has manufactured by the end of the year.

Pfizer – the first company to supply a Covid vaccine to Britain – has already raised its 2021 production target from 2.5 billion to 3 billion.

But so far it has produced around 1.2 billion doses and shipped 1 billion of these – meaning a significant ramp-up in production is required.

A push to ensure the new target is hit has included expandi ng i t s vast manufacturing facility in Puurs, Belgium; an increase in its batch sizes; and a recruitment drive to increase the site’s workforce by around 1,000 to 3,400.

Scientists have also managed to reduce the time taken to produce a Covid vaccine batch from 110 days to 60 days.

Danny Hendrikse, vice president of supply at Pfizer, told The Mail on Sunday this is likely to be speeded up. ‘We have to continuously improve. If we reach a key performance indicator, we set our bar higher,’ he said. ‘We’ve learned to make the impossible possible.’

A year ago, the UK agreed to take 30 million Pfizer-BioNTech doses then upped this order to 40 million and 100 million.

Around 40 million doses have been delivered. The bulk of the remaining 60 million doses are expected to be delivered in the autumn and winter.