Anger Spills Over COVID-19 Vaccine Makers: Threat with Legal Action

EU officials say AstraZeneca will not be able to deliver as many doses of the vaccine as promised, undermining the government’s plans. The news came after Pfizer also announced that it had delivered fewer vaccines than expected last week, he writes. cnn.com.

EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides was unhappy with a meeting with AstraZeneca on Monday and said talks would continue. He noted that the drug manufacturer “intends to administer much fewer doses in the coming weeks than agreed and announced.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday increased pressure on pharmaceutical companies, saying the bloc “is serious.”

“Europe has invested billions to help develop the world’s first vaccines against COVID-19, a real common good for the world. And now companies must deliver them. They must live up to their commitments,” he said at a meeting of the World Economic Forum.

EU countries that hoped vaccines would help manage the health crisis and revitalize their economies are now forced to adjust their plans. Italian Deputy Health Minister Pierpaolo Sileri told Rai 1 TV on Sunday that people over the age of 80 would be vaccinated four weeks later than planned due to delays in vaccine deliveries. This country threatens manufacturers of pharmaceutical products with legal action.

“By the fall, we could vaccinate 45 million people. Italian, but I don’t believe in these companies,” said Sileri. “I want to see vaccines.”

Unexpected delays

The European Union has commissioned 300 million euros from AstraZeneca. doses of vaccine with the possibility of requesting an additional 100 million. The EU itself should approve the vaccine this week.

AstraZeneca states that deliveries will be delayed due to production difficulties.

“Although the start of deliveries will not be delayed once vaccines are approved in Europe, initial volumes will be lower than expected. This is due to reduced production at one point in our European supply chain, AstraZeneca said. in a press release “We will deliver tens of millions of doses to the European Union in February and March as we continue to work to increase production.”

The news dealt another blow to the bloc, which was already in a rush to assess the damage from Pfizer’s late deliveries. The US company announced on January 15 that it would deliver fewer doses last week as it upgrades its plant in Pürs, Belgium.

However, this pharmaceutical company said it could still meet its first-quarter targets and, with the redevelopment of a plant in Belgium, will be able to produce 2 billion dollars by the end of 2021. Vaccine doses far exceed 1.3 billion. doses that were previously prescribed.

Pfizer announced on Monday that it will return to its previous delivery schedule to the European Union this week.

European governments are demanding answers, pointing out that the success of vaccination depends on the private sector.

“On the one hand, we can only welcome scientific results. On the other hand, they have a monopoly and we are completely dependent on them, Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said on Saturday. – There may be problems with production, but this uncertainty and these reports make organization very difficult (vaccination – Red. past.) Bell ‘.

Kyriakides said on Monday that the bloc will now demand that “European Union vaccine exports be fully transparent.”

“In the future, all companies that manufacture COVID-19 vaccines in the European Union will have to indicate in advance if they want to export vaccines to third countries. For humanitarian presentations, of course, this will not be a disability, ”he wrote on Twitter.

How bad is that?

Supply chain experts are far more concerned about AstraZeneca than Pfizer, given that the latter is committed to increasing production soon. However, AstraZeneca vaccines, developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford, are easier to transport and distribute because they can be stored at higher temperatures than Pfizer alternatives.

The delay of a week or two “is not a big problem,” said Burak Kazaz, a logistics professor at Syracuse University. “Although I really understand that the delay in this case means loss of life,” he added.

The scale of AstraZeneca’s problems will become clear in the coming weeks, but they are likely to be much more serious, he said.

Delays at these companies are a sign that there are still supply chain disruptions that need to be addressed as vaccination expands, said Prashant Yadav, an expert on the medical supply chain at the Center for World Development.

“We have more ups and downs before the process stabilizes,” he stressed.

Given the gentle attempts to speed up, and the fact that production is concentrated in just a few factories, the public should expect monthly production capacity to fluctuate for the time being, he added.

Richard Wilding, professor of supply strategies at Cranfield University in England, said it took at least 50 necessary measures, from disinfectant wipes and syringes to personal protective equipment, for the vaccination points to work. The supply of these tools must also be fluid.

It is also important that delays are not just a European problem.

“Developing countries that do not yet have access to vaccines will also pay a separate price, as deliveries will be further delayed,” Yadav said.