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EUROPEAN UNION OFFICIALS today will question executives of the pharmaceutical company Astrazeneca after it warned last week that supplies of its coronavirus vaccine to Europe will be lower than originally planned.
The firm said the problem was due to reduced production at a manufacturing site. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is expected to issue its decision on the authorization of the vaccine later this week.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke with the chief executive of the pharmaceutical firm this morning, a spokesperson said.
“He made it clear that he expects AstraZeneca to abide by the contractual agreement envisaged in the Advance Purchase Agreement,” he said, adding that he had reminded the company that the EU has invested “significant amounts” in the company upfront to ensure that production could be sped up.
“We hope the company will find solutions and take advantage of all possible flexibilities to deliver quickly,” he said.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is considered key to the global vaccination effort because it is cheaper to produce and can be stored at refrigerator temperature.
AstraZeneca said in a statement last week that if EU approval is granted, “initial volumes will be lower than anticipated,” although the start would not be delayed.
The company blamed “reduced yields at a manufacturing site within our European supply chain,” without elaborating.
He said that in any case it would supply the EU with “millions of doses” while increasing production in February and March. The company has committed to supplying up to 400 million doses to the EU.
On Friday, Reuters reported that the company told EU officials it would cut deliveries of its Covid-19 vaccine to the bloc by 60% in the first quarter due to production problems.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said that he will “interrupt our plan”, although the government and health authorities have not given further details on how it will affect our supplies.
Austrian Health Minister Rudolf Anschober called it “very, very bad news” and said his country would receive only a little more than half of the 650,000 AstraZeneca doses it expected in February.
Lithuania said it expected an 80% reduction in AstraZeneca doses in the first quarter.
Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke, speaking on public television, said the government had a contract with AstraZeneca for 1.5 million doses of vaccines in the first quarter.
“AstraZeneca says it will be half, instead of 1.5 million there will be 650,000,” he said.
Action by EU officials
As part of the Advance Purchase Agreement the EU has with AstraZeneca, funds were provided to reserve production capacity and for advance production. European officials are likely to take a heavy-handed approach to any possible delay in delivering supplies.
They will wait for the pharmaceutical company executives to explain in more detail why they are unable to deliver the supplies they had committed to and why the company’s announcement came just a week before the vaccine is approved by the EMA.
On Friday, Stella Kyriakides, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety said member states have expressed “deep dissatisfaction” with delivery delays.
“We insist on a precise delivery schedule based on which member states should plan their vaccination programs, subject to the granting of a conditional marketing authorization,” he said.
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“The European Commission will continue to insist with AstraZeneca on measures to increase the predictability and stability of deliveries and the acceleration of dose distribution.”
Kyriakides wrote to the company and highlighted the importance of delivery according to the schedule set out in the agreement, a spokesperson said today. He said the matter will be discussed between member states and the company at a meeting this afternoon.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said at the weekend that the government was considering taking legal action against AstraZeneca’s “unacceptable” announcement.
“If the 60% reduction in the doses to be distributed in the first quarter is confirmed, that would mean that 3.4 million doses would be delivered to Italy instead of eight million doses,” he said.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, told Europe 1 yesterday that the EU will ensure that pharmaceutical companies respect the contracts they have signed.
“We can use all legal means at our disposal for this,” he added.
Pfizer also recently announced that deliveries would be temporarily reduced as it completes work at its Belgian plant to increase capacity.
“We hit the table with our fists, which reduced the delay,” said Michel.
Following a call with President von der Leyen, Pfizer said it would return its original delivery schedule this week.
– With AFP report.
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