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Image source,Reuters
European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides (Stella Kyriakides) publicly expressed dissatisfaction with AstraZeneca’s late delivery.
Due to the dispute over a supply shortage of the new corona vaccine, the European Union urged the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to provide it with more vaccines from the UK factory.
The company previously stated that only a small part of the promised quantity of vaccines could be provided in the first quarter of this year, which angered the European Union.
However, the European Union and AstraZeneca promised to work together to solve supply shortages in 27 member states. This came after what both sides described as “constructive” crisis talks.
AstraZeneca previously blamed supply shortages on production problems at European factories, but the European Union said vaccines produced elsewhere should be enough to make up for the shortage.
Previously, the EU was criticized for delaying the launch of the vaccination plan.
The EU-AstraZeneca contract contains confidentiality clauses, but the EU requires the company to disclose the details.
According to reports from last week, the doses of vaccine received by the European Union between January and March 2021 will be significantly reduced by 60% than promised. The two sides held a dialogue on Wednesday night (January 27) to try to resolve this issue, and then the EU reiterated its position.
European Union Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides (Stella Kyriakides) said on Twitter that the EU regrets the “lack of a clear delivery schedule.”
Image source,Reuters
The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine has not yet been approved by the European Union.
“We will work with the company to find solutions and quickly provide vaccines to EU citizens,” he said.
An AstraZeneca spokesperson said the company has “committed to closer coordination and jointly charting a route for vaccine delivery in the coming months.”
At the same time, Pfizer / BioNTech has a broader vaccine production agreement with the EU, which has also experienced delays.
French pharmaceutical Sanofi announced that it will help produce 125 million doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine by the end of this year.
Sanofi said in a statement that the company will allow Germany-based BioNTech to use its Frankfurt plant from July. Sanofi has delayed the development of its own vaccine.
What is the EU complaining about?
In a press conference on Wednesday morning, Kyria Kiddes said that UK factories that have not had problems are also part of the EU agreement with the company and therefore must be delivered on time.
“All 27 EU member states agreed that AstraZeneca needs to fulfill its commitments in the agreement,” he said.
In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica on Tuesday, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said the contract obligated the company to “do everything possible” but could not require it. The vaccine is delivered before the deadline.
Kyria Kiddes said this description was “incorrect and unacceptable” and asked the company to be “open and transparent” in vaccine production.
“We signed a pre-purchase contract for products that did not exist at the time, and we have not obtained authorization until today. Our purpose of signing the contract is to ensure that the company can establish production capacity and produce vaccines as soon as possible, so that on the day of authorization a certain quantity of vaccine can be provided. “
He added that the EU rejects the “first come, first served” logic.
“This may work in a nearby butcher shop, but not in the contract or our pre-purchase agreement.”
He seemed to be responding to Sorio’s comments. Solio once said that the UK signed a contract with AstraZeneca three months before the EU signing, and this extra time has been used to “solve all the minor problems we found in the UK”.
At the same time, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “I have full confidence in our supply and we will launch the vaccine as soon as possible.”
“I am very happy that we have somehow launched the vaccine in Europe faster.”
Analysis: extremely unpleasant fight
Gavin Lee, BBC European Affairs Correspondent
In short, this is the reason why EU officials are angry at AstraZeneca. They said that the contract between them and the pharmaceutical giant clearly stipulates that the two main vaccine production plants in the UK will be listed as the main production bases, while the production bases in Belgium and the Netherlands will be secondary.
Belgium and the Netherlands have problems with vaccine production (their production has always been low). So for EU officials, this is an obvious problem: British factories should be used to transport vaccines across the European continent.
And today’s temporary press conference held by EU Health Commissioner Kyria Kiddes showed that tolerance towards the company’s previous explanations has gradually disappeared.
In fact, EU officials pointed out to me that EU funds were previously used to upgrade UK facilities, and they hope these facilities will work for them. This has turned into a very nasty dispute and has placed a hidden danger in the difficult dialogue with this British and Swedish company.
What about the supply?
In August last year, the European Union and AstraZeneca signed an agreement for 300 million doses of the vaccine, with the option to add another 100 million doses. However, AstraZeneca reported that two productions were delayed in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Sorio said production “is basically behind what we want in two months.”
Italy is one of the countries that threatens to initiate legal actions for delays.
The AstraZeneca vaccine has not yet been authorized by the European Union, although the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is expected to give it the green light on Friday.
The European Union had expected deliveries to begin immediately once approved, and approximately 80 million doses of vaccines would reach 27 countries in March.
Typically it takes ten years for a vaccine to go from research and development to market launch, but the new corona vaccine is available in one year. What procedures have been accelerated?
Authorities have not publicly confirmed how big the gap will be, but Reuters reported that delivery volume in the first quarter of this year will be reduced to 31 million doses, a reduction of 60%.
The EU also ordered 2.3 billion doses of vaccines from four other companies, of which only Pfizer / BioNTech (600 million doses) and Modena (Moderna, 160 million doses) were authorized.
Pfizer failed to supply the promised 12.5 million doses of vaccine to the EU by the end of 2020. The company said last week that its Belgian factory is working to increase production capacity and will postpone shipments in the coming weeks.
Due to vaccine delays, Spanish officials said on Wednesday (January 27) that the Madrid region had almost stopped all vaccines in two weeks, and the supply from Catalonia was also threatened.
The European Union threatened to restrict the export of vaccines produced within the European Union in response to the vaccine shortage.
