Astrazeneca reportedly delivers less than 50% of planned vaccines to EU in June

AstraZeneca Plc will deliver less than half the planned number of vaccines against covid-19 wing European Union in the second quarter, after attempts to tap into the company’s global supply failed.

The pharmaceutical giant will deliver approximately 76 million of the planned 180 million doses to the block in the three-month period to June, based on data based on delivery projections to a Member State to which Bloomberg had access. National figures have been extrapolated to EU level according to the European Commission methodology for the distribution of supplies.

Astra warned of a shortfall last month after find problems with the quantity of vaccines in EU production plants, but he said he was looking for make up for the loss by shipping some doses from elsewhere, including manufacturing plants in the United States. These efforts did not bear fruit because nations have become more and more protectionistaccording to a person familiar with the situation, who did not wish to be identified as the details of the supply are private. A spokesperson for Astra declined to comment and a representative of the European Commission did not respond to a request.

“We found 75 million doses for the second quarter that were supposed to come from the UK, US and to some extent India.”Swedish vaccine coordinator Richard Bergstrom said in an interview with Swedish television channel TV4. “Now we have been told that the company You will not be able to get these doses because there are export bans in the US and India and contractual barriers to shipping doses from the UK.“.

The EU expects to receive nearly 400 million doses of vaccine in the second quarter, the majority of which come from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE. Other 640 million vaccines are planned for the third quarter. The commission undertakes to immunize 70% of adults by the end of September.

EU plans to receive nearly 400 million doses of vaccine in Q2, the majority of which come from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE

The European Commission warned European diplomats this week that the supply of the vaccine developed by Astra and the University of Oxford remains a problem. Astra has changed its delivery schedule several times. The company plans to deliver 40 million doses in the first quarter, less than the expected 100 million.

Danish health authorities said on Thursday the country would receive around 900,000 fewer doses of Astra in the first half of 2021., citing an announcement by the company that it hoped to halve the number of doses delivered to the EU.

“The fact that AstraZeneca is once again reducing the number of doses delivered to the EU and therefore to Denmark, is of course unsatisfactory and poses a significant challenge,” said Ole Jensen, deputy director of the Statens Serum Institut, in a statement. .

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