In a press statement issued on Wednesday, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said that vaccination was picking up speed across Europe.

“This is a milestone that we can be proud of. Of these 100 million vaccinations, more than a quarter are second doses--which means that we have now more than 27 million people fully vaccinated.”

According to the European Centre for Disease Control, a first vaccine dose had been administered to 20% of the adult EU population and both recommended doses had been given to 7.5%. The EU target is 70%. Luxembourg has administered a first dose to 20% of adults.

Von der Leyen said there remained delivery disruptions, notably as concerns are raised about the side effects of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The signing of an agreement with BioNTech-Pfizer for an additional 50m doses of BioNTech-Pfizer vaccines to be delivered in quarter 2 of this year, starting in April, will ease the vaccine roll out. The doses were initially foreseen for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2021. They bring the total doses delivered by BioNTech-Pfizer to 250m doses in the second quarter.

“These doses will be distributed pro-rata to the population, among all the member states. This will substantially help consolidate the roll-out of our vaccination campaigns,” said Von der Leyen.

The president raised the point that booster jabs will be required to reinforce and prolong immunity and to adapt vaccines to emerging variants, notably through the use of mRNA vaccines.

The president said: “Based on all this, we are now entering into a negotiation with BioNTech-Pfizer for a third contract. This contract will foresee the delivery of 1.8 billion doses of vaccine over the period of 2021 to 2023. And it will entail that not only the production of the vaccines, but also all essential components, will be based in the EU.”