The European Union is close to the purchase of an eighth COVID vaccine. The EU wants to order 30 million doses from the French vaccine maker Valneva and claim an option to buy another 30 million.

The European Commission, which negotiates on behalf of the member states, claims to have concluded the exploratory talks with Valneva. A bid is next, according to the highly responsible Brussels official Sandra Gallina.

According to Gallina, the European Commission will be happy to add the vaccine that Valneva is working on. It uses a ‘very different’ method to combat the coronavirus than the vaccines that Brussels has so far purchased. Valneva defuses the virus in the lab and inserts it to bring the body’s defenses up. With different weapons in the arsenal, the commission intends to be able to better serve different patient groups and to cope with possible new virus varieties.

Valneva’s vaccine, which a patient would need two shots to be protected, is not yet ready for use. Six funds have been ordered and the purchase of a seventh, from Novavax, would be imminent.