BRUSSELS (Reuters) – AstraZeneca Plc told EU officials on Friday it would cut COVID-19 vaccine deliveries to the bloc by 60% to 31 million doses in the first quarter of the year due to production problems, a senior official said Reuters.
The drop brings another blow to European vaccination COVID-19 after Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech SE slowed their supply of the vaccine to the block this week, saying the move is needed because of work to increase production.
AstraZeneca was expected to deliver about 80 million doses to the 27 EU countries by the end of March, the official involved in the talks said.
The official added that AstraZeneca planned to start deliveries to the EU starting February 15, according to the original plans.
The company confirmed the drop in deliveries without providing specific details on the magnitude of the deficit.
“Initial volumes will be lower than initially anticipated due to reduced yields at a plant in our European supply chain,” an AstraZeneca spokesman said in a written statement.
“We will supply tens of millions of doses in February and March to the European Union as we continue to increase production,” he said of the vaccine developed at Oxford University.
The UK drug maker also agreed to deliver more than 80 million doses in the second quarter. On Friday, the EU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the company could not provide updated delivery targets for the April-June period due to production problems.
AstraZeneca told EU officials at a meeting that the reduction was due to production problems at a vaccine factory in Belgium run by its partner Novasep, the EU official said. Novasep was not immediately available for comment.
EU governments “have expressed deep dissatisfaction with this,” European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said on Twitter after the announcement.
The EU Drug Enforcement Authority is due to decide on the approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine on 29 January. It has already received an emergency permit in the UK.
The EU has an agreement to purchase at least 300 million doses from AstraZeneca, with an option for another 100 million, part of the company’s global commitments to deliver more than 3 billion doses.
Francesco Guarascio’s report to Brussels; additional reporting by Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt; Editing by Chris Reese and Bill Berkrot