At today's meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Social Affairs Tanel Kiik introduced the pre-purchase agreement of COVID-19 vaccine between the European Commission and the pharmaceutical company Moderna. It is one of seven pre-purchase agreements for the European Union's vaccine portfolio that the government decided to join last week. State authorities and the health care system are preparing to start vaccination as soon as the vaccines arrive in Estonia. The first vaccines may receive an EU marketing authorization by the end of the year, and the first deliveries arrive in Estonia in January.