Filenews 12 March 2021
British-Based pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has further lowered its forecast for the amount of vaccine doses it will supply to the European Union in the first quarter to 30 million, which makes up a third of its contractual obligations and marks a 25% reduction in the amount it pledged to deliver last month, according to a document obtained by Reuters news agency.
The reduction in quantity will deal a fresh blow to the EU's plans to immunise the population, a campaign hampered by repeated delays in deliveries of vaccine doses and their slow distribution in some countries.
An AstraZeneca spokesman declined to comment, asked today by Reuters news agency.
A person briefed on the situation explained that the increase in production expected by the company's management was not due to difficulties in transporting vaccines through global vaccination chains.
The US, from where AstraZeneca intended to send tranches to the European market, has told the European Union not to expect to receive quantities of vaccines prepared on US territory soon, Reuters reported yesterday citing two European sources.
The company had said that the initial reductions in the quantities was due to deliver to the EU were due to production problems in Europe.
"I see efforts, but not 'the best possible efforts'. It is not enough for AstraZeneca to fulfil its contractual obligations for the first quarter," Noted European Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton via Twitter yesterday Thursday, adding that it is "time" for the company's board of directors to ensure that these obligations are "fulfilled".
Under the contract concluded, AstraZeneca would supply the 27 member countries with 180 m instalments in the April-June quarter, with the total quantity from December reaching 300 m doses.
Source: RES-BE
