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MILAN, Jan 24 (Reuters) – Italy will take legal action and increase pressure in Brussels against Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca over delays in COVID-19 vaccine deliveries with a view to securing agreed supplies, the foreign minister said on Sunday. Luigi Di Maio.
The goal was to get the companies to deliver on the vaccine volumes they had promised and not seek compensation, Di Maio said on state television RAI.
“This is a European contract that Pfizer and AstraZeneca are not respecting and that is why we will take legal action … We are working so that our program of vaccine plans does not change,” he said.
Pfizer said last week that it was temporarily slowing supplies to Europe to make changes to manufacturing that would boost production. On Friday, AstraZeneca said that initial deliveries to the region will be insufficient due to a production problem.
READ: New warning on COVID-19 vaccine supplies raises EU concern
When asked why he thought pharmaceutical companies had been forced to announce cuts, Di Maio said he believed they had simply bitten off more than they could chew.
“We are activating all channels so that the EU Commission does everything possible so that these gentlemen respect their contracts,” he said.
No one was immediately available to comment at Pfizer in Italy. AstraZeneca did not immediately respond to an email and voicemail.
Also on Sunday, European Council President Charles Michel said the EU would use legal means to ensure that pharmaceutical companies abide by contracts for the supply of COVID-19 vaccines.
“We plan to make the pharmaceutical companies respect the contracts they have signed … using the legal means at our disposal,” Michel said on Europe 1 radio.
READ: AstraZeneca to reduce EU COVID vaccine deliveries by 60% in Q1
Sky Italia TV quoted Pfizer on Sunday as saying that the cuts, in the number of vials delivered rather than the number of doses, were due to work to increase capacity at a Belgian plant.
Supplies would return to normal starting next week, Sky said, citing Pfizer.
On Saturday, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the vaccine supply delays were “unacceptable” and amounted to a serious breach of contractual obligations, adding that Italy would use all available legal tools.
Speaking to Italian television on Sunday, Italy’s Deputy Health Minister Pierpaolo Sileri said the cut in supplies announced by Pfizer and AstraZeneca would delay vaccination of those over 80 in Italy by about four weeks and the rest of the population in about 6-8 weeks.
“This kind of delay affects the whole of Europe and a good part of the world, but I am confident that the delay can be compensated later,” he said.
Italy was the first Western country to be affected by the virus last March and has so far recorded 85,461 deaths, the second highest in Europe after Britain and the sixth highest in the world.
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