Filenews 3 September 2021
The litigation between AstraZeneca and the Commission came to an end, as the two sides reached an agreement that will ensure the delivery of the remaining doses of COVID-19 vaccines to member states under the terms of the Preliminary Purchase Agreement concluded on August 27, 2020 with AstraZeneca, Commissioner Stella Kyriakides announced on Friday.
The agreement will also end the pending court proceedings before the Brussels Court of Justice.
The arrangement reached by the two sides provides for AstraZeneca's firm commitment to deliver, in addition to the approximately 100 million tranches delivered by the end of Q2, 135 million doses by the end of 2021 (60 million instalments by the end of Q3 and 75 million instalments by the end of Q4) and the remaining tranches (65 million) by the end of March 2022.
On the basis of this timetable the total number of instalments will be 300 million doses, as agreed under the contract.
According to the Commission's communication, Member States will receive regular delivery schedules and limited discounts will apply in case of late instalments.
In a statement, Ms Kyriakides said that "today's settlement agreement guarantees the delivery of the remaining 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine by AstraZeneca to the EU".
He noted that "the continued availability of vaccines, including AstraZeneca, remains critical" as despite the fact that the EU has reached the important milestone of 70% of full vaccination of the EU adult population "there are significant differences in vaccination rates among our member states".
"As the strongest supporter of global cooperation and solidarity on vaccines, we will continue to help the rest of the world. Our aim is to distribute at least 200 million doses of vaccines through COVAX to low- and middle-income countries by the end of this year. Solidarity for vaccines is and remains our trademark," the Commissioner added.
