European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday announced a new deal with the US pharmaceutical giant Moderna to supply extra vaccine doses.

The European Union has faced criticism for its vaccine purchasing strategy, amid concern that the vaccine rollout in member states has been relatively slow.

The contract for the Moderna vaccine —which was approved in January — is the second the EU has struck with the manufacturer and provides for an extra purchase of 150 million in 2021.

There is then the option to buy an additional 150 million in 2022 on behalf of all 27 EU member states.

The EU's Brussels-based executive also unveiled plans to better detect variants of the virus and ramp up the approval of adapted vaccines that might counter them.

Hours earlier on Wednesday, US drug firm Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech said they had finalized a deal to supply the European Union with another 200 million doses of their coronavirus vaccine.

The companies said those doses — expected to be delivered this year, an estimated 75 million of them in the second quarter — are in addition to the 300 million already ordered.

Will the EU have enough vaccine for all?

EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the latest acquisition from Moderna brought the bloc's vaccine portfolio up to 2.6 billion — more than enough for its own population. 

"With a portfolio of up to 2.6 billion doses, we will be able to provide vaccines not just to our citizens, but to our neighbors and partners as well," said von der Leyen.

The deal allows for the possibility of donating the jabs to lower and middle-income nations, if the EU has sufficient supplies.

So far, some 22 million people had been vaccinated in the bloc since the bloc's first jabs were administered at the end of December — which von der Leyen said was  too slow. 

"We must and will accelerate vaccination in the weeks and months to come," von der Leyen said during a press conference.

Earlier this month, the European Commission identified manufacturing capacities as a "limiting factor." It said it would set up a specialized body to respond and "deliver a more structured approach to pandemic preparedness.'' 

Vaccine fraudsters a growing problem

The commission chief also said it was taking action to growing cases of COVID-19 vaccine fraud, and to bring individuals responsible for it to justice.

"In a crisis like this you will always have people who attempt to profit from the problems of others," Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference. "And we see a growing number of fraud and fraud attempts related to the vaccines."

"We are fighting this trend," she said adding that the bloc's anti-fraud body OLAF was investigating and giving EU member states advice on tracking down cases of fraud.

Von der Leyen said there was no way of telling if vaccines offered by black market authentic had been stored at consistently cold temperatures.

On Monday, OLAF said had been made aware of reports of scammers offering to sell vaccines, seeking defraud EU governments aiming to speed up vaccination efforts.

The EU has bought vaccine doses collectively. However, member states can also decide to negotiate separate agreements provided they do not compete with the EU's advanced purchases.

rc/msh (AP, Reuters, AFP)