The European Union (EU) has announced that vaccine production firm AstraZeneca will supply an additional 9 million doses of the vaccine by March.
According to EU Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen, AstraZeneca will send an additional 9 million doses of vaccine in the first quarter of this year, compared to 40 million previously proposed.
Delivery of the vaccine will also be done earlier than scheduled.
The move comes after the EU faced criticism over the bloc's vaccination program.
The EU signed an agreement with AstraZeneca for 300 million vaccines, with the option of an additional 100 million vaccines last August.
The block hopes 80 million vaccines will be delivered in the first quarter of this year but AstraZeneca has announced production problems at its factories in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Media reports reported the situation would result in a 60% reduction in vaccine supply by the end of March.
The EU was involved in a dispute between the United Kingdom (UK) and AstraZeneca last week.
The bloc was criticized after threatening to prevent vaccines produced in EU countries from entering the UK through the Northern Ireland border.
The border is one of the key issues to be resolved in the recently agreed Brexit deal following the UK's withdrawal from the EU.
The EU was reportedly angry with Britain for obtaining a supply of vaccines from AstraZeneca as the bloc faced a shortage of vaccines.
Following this, the EU announced the implementation of export controls on the Covid-19 vaccine produced within the EU, aimed at controlling its supply.
