BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union pushes AstraZeneca to supply the block with multiple doses of its COVID-19 vaccine from plants in Europe and the UK after the company announced delivery delays, which increased frustrations over the inoculation program in the EU.
The EU is conducting more comprehensive checks on vaccines before approval, which means slower photo launches compared to other regions, especially the former EU member, the UK.
The problem has been exacerbated by Anglo-Swedes AstraZeneca and Pfizer in the United States, both announcing that deliveries will be suspended in recent weeks. The delay of AstraZeneca was caused by production problems at a factory in Belgium.
“UK factories are part of our advanced purchasing agreement and therefore need to deliver,” EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides told a news conference, noting that two of the four factories from which AstraZeneca has committed to supply vaccines to the EU are in the UK.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it would have been a “great sin” if the United Kingdom had remained in the European Union’s vaccination program, rather than set its own plan.
“I think we have managed to do things differently and better in some respects,” he told parliament.
AstraZeneca, which worked with Oxford University in the UK to develop the vaccine, said last week it would reduce its supply to the EU in the first quarter, with an EU official saying the EU would receive 31 million doses during this period. or 60% less than originally agreed, due to production problems at a Belgian plant.
The EU has been pushing the company for a week to review these cuts, but it is unclear how AstraZeneca can force the agreed amounts to be delivered.
Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca’s French chief executive, told reporters on Tuesday that the EU contract was based on a maximum effort clause and did not commit the company to a specific timetable for deliveries.
Soriot said the EU vaccines were produced in four factories in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy.
However, European Commission officials said on Wednesday that under the contract, the company had committed to supply vaccines from two factories in the UK.
They added that the company did not provide sufficient explanations as to why the doses could not be shipped from stocks in factories that did not have production problems, such as those in the UK.
Reuters reported exclusively on Tuesday that EU calls to redirect doses in the UK have not been answered by AstraZeneca.
As an example of how the problems are being bitten, delivery delays are forcing health authorities in the richest regions of Madrid and Catalonia, Spain, to restrict inoculations even as a third wave of contagion erupts, officials said.
Adding to the confusion, a Welsh factory producing the AstraZeneca vaccine was partially evacuated on Wednesday after receiving a suspicious package and police said a bomb disposal unit was handling the incident.
MEETING OR NO MEETING?
The EU has also threatened to monitor future exports of COVID-19 vaccines in retaliation for companies announcing delays, although the EU trade commissioner has ruled out any export bans.
Insufficient relations have been confusing about the timing of a meeting between the EU and AstraZeneca.
EU officials said the company was out of a virtual meeting scheduled for Wednesday, an Austrian minister then said it was set for Thursday, which was followed by an AstraZeneca statement saying it would continue on Wednesday as planned.
The EU’s contract with AstraZeneca is an advance purchase agreement to provide at least 300 million doses, provided the vaccine is approved as safe and effective, with doses delivered in stages. A decision on approval is scheduled for Friday.
In another sign of friction, EU officials also said that the details revealed by Soriot regarding the production capacity and the effort clause are confidential and suggested a possible breach of contract.
The officials added that the best effort clause was standard in contracts with producers of developing products.
“The best effort is a completely standard clause when you sign a contract with a company for a product that doesn’t exist yet,” said one official. “Obviously you can’t put a completely legal obligation” in these conditions.
However, the official said that the best effort means that the company must demonstrate a “general” effort to develop and deliver vaccines.
AstraZeneca said on Wednesday: “Each supply chain has been developed with contributions and investments from certain countries or international organizations based on supply agreements, including our agreement with the European Commission.”
“Because each supply chain has been created to meet the needs of a specific agreement, the vaccine produced in any supply chain is dedicated to relevant countries or regions and uses local production whenever possible,” the company added.
Philanthropist Bill Gates told Reuters that the launch of vaccines is a “very tough allocation issue” that puts pressure on global institutions, governments and drug manufacturers.
“If you are a pharmaceutical company that has not made a vaccine, you are not under pressure. But those who made the vaccine – they are the ones who are being attacked, “he said. “It’s a very zero amount.”
Reporting by Francesco Guarascio and Ludwig Burger; Additional reporting by Francois Murphy and Kate Kelland; Editing by Nick Macfie and Edmund Blair