German pharmaceutical company BioNTech and US-based pharma major Pfizer are increasing manufacturing capacity to produce two billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine this year amid a surge in the global demand.

"In order to respond to an increased global demand, we plan to manufacture two billion doses of our Covid-19 vaccine in 2021 by expanding the previously expected output of 1.3 billion doses by more than 50 per cent," BioNTech said in a statement on Monday.