The EU and AstraZeneca reach an agreement to resolve the dispute over the supply of vaccines out of court
The European Commission and AstraZeneca said on Friday that they had reached an agreement on the delivery of the remaining doses of the Covid-19 vaccine by the British pharmaceutical company and also ended the pending litigation in Brussels.
The deal clears up a big problem for AstraZeneca, whose cheap and easily transportable vaccine has faced several setbacks, including lawsuit and concerns about potential side effects. It also allows the European Union to speed up vaccines amid shortages.
Under the agreement, AstraZeneca has committed to deliver 60 million doses of its vaccine, Vaxzevria, by the end of the third quarter of this year, 75 million by the end of the fourth quarter and 65 million by the end of the first quarter of 2022.
The European Commission took legal action against AstraZeneca in April for not respecting its contract for the supply of Covid-19 vaccines and for not having a “reliable” plan to ensure timely deliveries.
“There are significant differences in vaccination rates between our member states, and the continued availability of vaccines, including that from AstraZeneca, remains crucial,” said EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides.
Today we reached a settlement agreement with @ AstraZeneca, which includes a binding commitment to deliver all # COVID19 vaccines as per our contract.
We are pleased to have found a mutually satisfactory solution that benefits 🇪🇺citizens and 🌍 citizens through our global COVAX commitment.
– Stella Kyriakides (@SKyriakidesEU) September 3, 2021
The EU executive body said that under the new agreement, member states will receive regular delivery schedules and if there are any delayed doses, limited discounts will be applied.
Brussels said the deliveries would respect an advance purchase agreement the EU reached with AstraZeneca a year ago. Tens of millions of doses have already been supplied to EU member countries, but not as many as the 27-nation bloc expected.
‘Very pleased’
Ruud Dobber, Executive Vice President Biopharmaceuticals at AstraZeneca, said: “I am very pleased to have been able to reach a common understanding that allows us to move forward and work in collaboration with the European Commission to help overcome the pandemic.”
AstraZeneca manufactures vaccines designed at the University of Oxford in Great Britain and sells them on a non-profit basis. Its version is cheaper and easier to store than that of many competitors.
Officials accused AstraZeneca of prioritizing UK vaccine deliveries over the EU order, and lawyers for the European Commission went to court to demand the deliveries or see huge daily fines imposed for any ongoing shortfalls.
A Belgian court ruled in June that AstraZeneca had committed a “serious breach” of its contract with the EU.
But the firm argued that its contract with the block only required it to make “best efforts” to meet its delivery target, and that production bottlenecks at its European plants had been unavoidable.
Frustrated by slow supply, the EU has made another vaccine produced by US giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech the workhorse of its purchasing program.
( Jowharwith AFP, AP and REUTERS)
