US pharmaceutical company Pfizer has agreed to extend its contract with the European Union for the vaccine against COVID-19 from 2023 to 2026, the Financial Times reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The company has offered to reduce the number of doses delivered by 40% and delay the delivery of the vaccines, the publication also said. Under the revised terms, Pfizer wants to be paid for ordered doses that will never be manufactured, the Financial Times said.

"Working together, we have achieved a significant reduction in doses, an extension of our contract well beyond 2023, and security of supply should more doses be needed," European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in a statement.

"If we want to change the supply of vaccines, we need an agreement," Kyriakides added.

The new conditions were presented to the health ministers of the member countries at a closed meeting, the publication states. They have met with opposition from four member states, including Poland.

Bulgaria's Acting Health Minister Asen Medzhidiev said his country, along with Poland, Hungary and Lithuania, opposed the proposed deal on excess vaccines. Medzhidiev added that, in his opinion, other EU countries would not support the proposed deal in its current form.

In January, Reuters reported on talks between Brussels and Pfizer and its German partner Biontech amid a global glut of Covid vaccines, with Europe finding itself with a particularly large surplus. The discussions included the possibility that Pfizer would reduce the amount of up to 500 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that the EU has committed to buying this year in exchange for a higher price.

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