Further positive news regarding a Covid vaccine has emerged this week after EU leaders confirmed that another deal has been struck to ensure as many doses of a potential vaccine can be secured for member states including Ireland.
The European Union has already agreed contracts with major pharma firms such as AstraZeneca, Sanofi-GSK, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV and BioNtech-Pfizer all of which are in advanced stages of producing a Covid vaccine.
And now the European Commission has approved a fifth contract with the European pharmaceutical company CureVac which provides for the initial purchase of 225 million doses on behalf of all EU Member States, plus an option to request up to a further 180 million doses.
The new contract means that EU member states, including Ireland means that the bloc is well prepared to get its hands on a vaccine once one is proven to be safe and effective.
Member States can also decide to donate the vaccine to lower and middle-income countries or to re-direct it to other European countries.
President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said: “A few days after our contract with BioNTech and Pfizer, I am delighted to announce a new agreement with a promising European company.
"The Commission has secured to date at least 1.2 billion doses and fulfils its commitment to ensuring equitable access to safe, effective and affordable vaccines not only for EU citizens but also for the world's poorest and most vulnerable people.
"Most of these vaccine candidates are in an advanced phase of clinical trials, hopefully authorisation will confirm these positive results, after which they will be quickly deployed and help us in overcoming the pandemic.”
The EU is also said to be engaged in successful exploratory talks with pharma giant Moderna which this week announced that it's Covid-19 vaccine trial was shown to be 95% effective.
