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The European Union and the pharmaceutical AstraZeneca discuss the corona vaccine in the open stage. The reason: The pharmaceutical company is expected to be able to deliver large quantities of its product to Germany and other EU countries only weeks or months later. No solution could be found in a crisis discussion between the two parties on Wednesday night. “We regret the continued lack of clarity on the delivery schedule,” EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in a tweet, adding that the EU is demanding a clear plan from AstraZeneca for the rapid delivery of doses of vaccine you have reserved for the first trimester. . However, he praised the constructive tone of the conversation with the head of the company, Pascal Soriot, who had personally joined.
The dispute began on Friday with the announcement by the British-Swedish manufacturer that after the approval of the vaccine, which is expected this week, it will deliver to the EU much less than promised. EU politicians gave figures: instead of the 80 million doses of vaccine expected in the first quarter, only 31 million would arrive. On Wednesday, an EU representative indicated that the dimension is even greater. A “three-digit number” was expected and only a quarter was delivered.
The EU Commission and the 27 EU states have been lobbying the company for days. The EU has a framework agreement for a total of 400 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine. So that the funds can be delivered once approved, the company has been promised € 336 million to increase production. According to the EU reading, it should have been produced in stock. Now the EU asks: where is the vaccine? The reason given by AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot is that the EU concluded its contract later than Great Britain, where AstraZeneca funds are already being used (read more here).
There are suspicions in Brussels that bottlenecks in the supply of the vaccine to the European Union could be due to the company supplying the UK and other non-EU countries with undiminished quantities of the vaccine. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson does not want to get involved in this debate. It’s a matter between the EU and AstraZeneca, Johnson said in London, adding: “We are very confident in our supplies and our contracts.”
