Covid vaccines: Where are Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna jabs made?
Words by ITV News Multimedia Producer Ann Yip
Many will be wondering how many of the UK's Covid vaccines are imported from the European Union after the bloc threatened to stop exports of vaccines to the UK.
As EU countries grapple with a third wave amid a row over supplies with AstraZeneca, the European Commission continued its rhetoric earlier on Wednesday, saying it would authorise the export of coronavirus vaccines on "principles of reciprocity and proportionality".
But later in the day, the UK and EU released a joint statement saying they will work together to resolve the row over Covid vaccines, vowing “to create a win-win situation and expand vaccines supply for all our citizens”.
The row over the supply of AstraZeneca jabs began in January after the pharmaceutical company said it would not be able to deliver as many jabs in the first quarter of the year as originally promised. It said it would prioritise supply to the UK as the deal with the UK came before the EU one.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen then threatened to block exports of vaccines to countries with higher vaccination rates on March 17. She ramped up the rhetoric this weekend, saying the EU has the power to "forbid" exports.
EU leaders are due to discuss the vaccine roll-out during a virtual European Council summit on Thursday.
UK and EU working together to create 'win-win situation' amid jab export row
Which vaccines has the UK bought and how many doses of each?
Amid the EU vaccine row, we look at where the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are made and from where they are imported:
Oxford/AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca has contracts with several manufacturers to produce the vaccine, creating dozens of regional supply chains. It said it is working with suppliers in more than 15 countries.
The UK has ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine developed by Swedish-British drugmaker in partnership with the University of Oxford.
The majority of these vaccines will be made in the UK. About 10 million of the doses for the UK are being made by the Serum Institute of India, one of the biggest manufacturers of the AstraZeneca vaccine mainly supplying to India and low and middle-income countries.
A "tiny" batch made in Leiden in the Netherlands has also been sent to the UK, AstraZeneca said.
In the UK, the vaccine is made at Oxford Biomedica in Oxford and Cobra Biologics in Keele. They are then filled into vials and packaged in the Wockhardt facility in Wrexham.
The EU has also ordered 500 million doses of the vaccine.
Supplies to the EU mainly come from the US and a centre in Seneffe in Belgium, the BBC reports. A site in Leiden in the Netherlands is also producing some vaccines.
Once the vaccines are made, they are transported to IDT Biologika's site in Dessau, Germany, or pharmaceutical company Catalent in Anagni, Italy, to be filled into vials and packaged.
The pharmaceutical company plans to deliver up to three billion doses across the world by the end of 2021.
Pfizer/BioNTech
The mRNA vaccines developed by US pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German company BioNTech are manufactured at several of Pfizer's sites.
The manufacturing of raw materials and drug substances happens at two centres in the US: in Saint Louis in Missouri and Andover in Massachusetts.
They are then fed to the main manufacturing centres where the vaccines are formulated, filled into vials and finished. These are in Kalamazoo in Michigan, which mainly makes vaccines for the US, and Purrs in Belgium, which mainly deals with vaccines for the rest of the world.
Many of the vaccines are shipped directly to vaccination centres across the world. Some are sent to distribution centres, including in Pleasant Prairie (Wisconsin) and Puurs, which store the vaccines until they are needed.
Vaccines are transported on the road or by air, with deliveries within two days for the US and three days globally, according to the US vaccine developer.
A manufacturing site in Pleasant Prairie is also key in the production the dry ice to keep the temperatures of vaccines under control while they are being transported.
How the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine works:
An extra manufacturing centre at BioNTech's site in Marburg in Germany was set up in February due to increased demand for Covid vaccines. The first vaccines produced at the site are scheduled to be released in early April, the biotech company said in February.
The new site is expected to become one of the largest mRNA vaccine manufacturing sites in Europe, with an annual production capacity of up to 750 million doses.
It will produce mRNA, the active pharmaceutical ingredient of the vaccine, with a single batch sufficient to produce around eight million vaccine doses - the biotech company said. After the mRNA is purified, concentrated and combined with a mixture of lipids to form Lipid Nanoparticles, it will be transported to another site to be packaged.
Pfizer says based on current projections, it believes it and BioNTech can deliver more than two billion doses of its Covid vaccine worldwide by the end of 2021 - an increase from the 1.3 billion doses initially projected.
As of March 11, 160 million doses of the vaccine has been shipped across the world and it is tripling the number of doses to the EU in the second quarter of the year, compared to the first quarter.
The UK has placed orders for 40 million doses and Ms von der Leyen has said more than 10 million doses of Covid vaccines produced in the EU (mainly Pfizer) have been exported to the UK.
Moderna
The vast majority of the vaccines developed by the US biotech company is produced at its base in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
They are then sent to other centres to be filled and finished. In the US, the fill and finish centres are in Catalent's biologics facility in Bloomington, Indiana, and Baxter's site in Bloomington, Indiana.
There are also agreements with several manufacturing sites in Europe.
Lonza biotech company, which has sites in the US and Switzerland, is helping Moderna supply vaccines outside of the US. As part of a 10-year plan, it is expected that Lonza will create more production suites allowing for the production of up to 1 billion doses a year.
Recipharm's drug manufacturing site in France also produces and packages some of the vaccine supply for countries outside of the US. And a pharmaceutical lab Rovi in Madrid, Spain, provides vial filling and packaging services for hundreds of millions of doses.
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The UK has ordered 17 million doses of the Moderna Covid vaccine and the European Union has secured orders for 310 million for 2021.
Meanwhile, the US Government has agreed to purchase a total of 300 million doses - more than 55 million doses have already been supplied.
The US company plans to supply 700 million doses of the Covid vaccine across the world in 2021. It has already shipped more than 60 million doses.