Pfizer has raised its full-year sales forecast for its coronavirus vaccine by nearly a third, as governments across the world rush to secure doses to vaccinate their populations.

The US drugmaker raised its 2021 forecast for sales of the Covid vaccine that it produces with Germany’s BioNTech by 28.8 per cent to $33.5bn (£24bn), up from the $26bn it had projected in the previous quarter.

Demand for its Pfizer/BioNTech jab helped its second quarter revenues almost double on last year, rising 92 per cent to $18.98bn from $9.86bn in 2020, and earnings per share rose 58 per cent to 98 cents.

Pfizer, which splits profits evenly with BioNTech for their Covid vaccine, said it generated direct sales of $7.8bn from the vaccine in the second quarter.

Pfizer said that more than 1bn doses of the vaccine have been delivered globally, and it expects to deliver 2.1bn more doses by the end of the year, under contracts signed as of mid-July.

Looking further ahead, Pfizer has secured agreements with governments around the world for continued supply of the vaccine, including one forged in May with the European Commission to supply 900m doses of the vaccine to the EU on a monthly schedule beginning in December and continuing into 2023.

“Looking forward, we remain highly confident in our ability to achieve at least a 6% compound annual growth rate through 2025 and intend to build upon our recent successes by continuing to follow the science, trust in our people and remain focused on delivering breakthroughs for the patients we serve,” said Pfizer chairman and CEO Dr. Albert Bourla.