France to Send 100,000 Pfizer Vaccines to the Czech Republic

France will provide 100,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to the Czech Republic by mid-March, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis told CTK news agency on Thursday.

The Czech Republic has been struggling with a resurgent COVID-19 pandemic in the past weeks, ranking among the worst-hit countries in the world in terms of infections and deaths from the global pandemic.

“We have been trying for a long time to get some extra doses, in Israel we managed to get them as a donation. France has now promised us 100,000 vaccines by March 15,” confirmed the prime minister.

The Czech government will likely impose on Thursday tougher restrictions after Prime Minister Andrej Babis warned that hospitals faced “catastrophe” if no action is taken.

Over the past week, the Czech Republic has had the highest per capita infection rate in the world and second-highest death rate, according to the Our World in Data website.

European Union leaders are gathering Thursday to try to inject new energy into the bloc´s lagging coronavirus vaccination efforts as concern mounts that new variants might spread faster than authorities can adapt.

The European Commission has sealed deals with several companies for well over 2 billion vaccine shots – far more than the EU population of around 450 million – but only three have been authorized: jabs from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca. Officials say the Johnson & Johnson vaccine could be approved next month.