(Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc. has notified countries around the world that it will deliver fewer doses of its Covid-19 vaccine in the next three to four weeks as it works to renovate a factory in Belgium.
The renovations will serve to boost capacity from mid-February, according to statements from Norway, Germany and the company. The factory, in Puurs, supplies vaccine to all countries in the world outside of the U.S., the German Health Ministry said.
“As part of the normal productivity improvements to increase capacity, we must make modifications to the process and facility that will require additional regulatory approvals,” a Pfizer spokeswoman said in a statement. “Although this will temporarily impact shipments in late January to early February, it will provide a significant increase in doses available for patients in late February and March.”
In Canada, which has ordered more Covid-19 vaccine doses per capita than any other country in the world, Procurement Minister Anita Anand called the temporary reduction “unfortunate.” Pfizer plans to catch up on deliveries by the end of March, Anand said, adding that by the end of September, everyone who wishes to be vaccinated will be able to get a shot.
Pfizer and partner BioNTech SE recently said they were scaling up vaccine output to a goal of 2 billion doses this year.
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