Pfizer set to oust AstraZeneca as top supplier of COVID-19 shots to poor nations

FILE PHOTO: Vials with Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine labels are seen in this illustration picture taken March 19, 2021. REUTERS/ REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Pfizer and BioNtech are set to displace AstraZeneca as the main suppliers of COVID-19 vaccines to the global COVAX programme at the start of 2022, a shift that shows the increasing importance of their shot for poorer states.

The expected change comes with headaches for receiving countries that lack sufficient cold storage capacity to handle the Pfizer vaccine, and amid risks of a shortage of syringes needed to administer that shot.