Following days of criticism of the EU’s vaccination programme, the EU says UK-Swedish drug firm AstraZeneca will now supply an additional nine million COVID-19 vaccine doses by March.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, called it a “step forward.”
However, the 40 million doses now expected are only about half of what was hoped for, owing to ongoing supply issues.
This week, the Commission has been embroiled in a contentious dispute with both the United Kingdom and AstraZeneca.
It was particularly chastised for threatening to erect border checks on the Northern Ireland border to prevent EU-produced vaccines from entering the UK.
Following the UK’s departure, the border was one of the most difficult issues to resolve in the recently agreed Brexit deal.
Also read: COVID-19: Reintroduce restrictions on transport industry
The border was one of the most difficult issues to resolve in the recently agreed-upon Brexit deal following the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union.
The EU was enraged that Britain was receiving UK-made contracted supplies from AstraZeneca while it was experiencing a shortage. To protect its supplies, the EU announced the implementation of export controls on coronavirus vaccines manufactured within the EU. The Brexit agreement ensures that there are no trade barriers between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
What does the EU Commission President promise?
Ms von der Leyen said in a tweet that AstraZeneca would “deliver 9 million additional doses (40 million total) in the first quarter compared to last week’s offer & will start deliveries one week earlier than scheduled.”
She stated that this was a 30% increase over the previous amount.
According to RTE, the country will receive an additional 100,000 doses as a result.
In August, the EU agreed to purchase 300 million AstraZeneca doses, with an option to purchase an additional 100 million.
It was hoped that 80 million would be delivered in the first quarter of 2021, though other sources put the figure at 100 million, but AstraZeneca said that production problems at its Dutch and Belgian plants were causing delays.
According to media reports, this would imply a 60% reduction in supplies until the end of March.
There was a brief exchange between the two parties about contractual obligations, with the EU claiming it was binding and the drug company claiming it only had to comply.
The two parties then had a brief exchange about contractual obligations, with the EU claiming it was binding and the drug company claiming it only had to provide its “best reasonable efforts.” As each tried to win the argument, the contract between the two was partially published.
The Commission pointed out that it could be supplied by UK-based plants, but the UK defended its supply contracts with AstraZeneca vehemently.
The UK was the first country to approve the vaccine, on December 30th, with the EU following suit on Friday.
Also on Friday, the EU announced its so-called transparency mechanism, which gives member countries the authority to refuse vaccine export authorization if the company producing them fails to honour existing contracts with the EU.
The EU’s attempt to apply measures to the Irish border was widely condemned, and the heads of industry bodies in the UK and Europe warned against export bans.
The EU took a step back, with Ursula Von Der Leyen telling Prime Minister Boris Johnson that “there will be no disruption of contracts that we have with any producer in the EU.”
Follow Clicks ‘n Likes On Facebook for more updates
