The European Commission has signed a contract with Leiden-based pharmaceuticals company Janssen for the supply of 200 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine.

Of those, at least 7.8 million doses would be allocated to the Dutch market, as soon as the vaccine has approval, health minister Hugo de Jonge told MPs on Thursday.

The vaccine, if successful, is likely to become available in the second quarter of 2021, De Jonge said on the second day of debate about the government’s coronavirus legislation.

Janssen, part of the giant Johnson & Johnson pharmaceuticals group, has already begun trials of the vaccine in Belgium and the US, where it is quicker to get permission for human testing and recently launched more trials in the Netherlands, Spain and German.

The vaccine will be partly produced in the Netherlands and partly elsewhere, broadcaster NOS said.

The European Commission earlier signed deals with AstraZeneca and Sanofi/GSK for 300 million doses each. Deals are still being worked out with three other manufacturers.