AstraZeneca plans to provide less than half of the doses of the Covid vaccine to the European Union compared to the contract in the second quarter.
This was announced by an EU official to Reuters.
The official, who is directly involved in talks with the Anglo-Swedish drug manufacturer, said AstraZeneca said during internal meetings that it "would deliver less than 90 million doses in the second quarter."
Under AstraZeneca's contract with the EU, the company had pledged to deliver 180 million doses to the 27 countries in the second quarter, the Reuters website adds.
The drop in second-trimester dose supply, which was not previously reported, comes after a sharp cut-off in first-trimester supplies and could affect the EU's ability to meet its target of vaccinating 70% of adults by summer, notes Reuters.
"As we are working hard to increase the productivity of our EU supply chain and doing everything we can to use our global supply chain, we are confident that we can bring our deliveries closer to the purchase agreement," a spokesperson said. of AstraZeneca, refusing to comment on specific data.
The EU official at Reuters confirmed that AstraZeneca expects to deliver around 40 million doses in the first quarter, again less than half of the 90 million doses it was supposed to provide.
"Discussions on AstraZeneca's delivery program are ongoing. The company is refining its program and consolidating it on the basis of all production sites available inside and outside Europe. The EU Commission expects to receive an improved proposal."
Thus a spokesman for the Community Executive comments on the news.