Exclusive: AstraZeneca to deliver 31 million COVID-19 sockets to EU in first quarter, 60% reduction – EU source

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – AstraZeneca Plc on Friday informed European Union officials that it will cut deliveries of its COVID-19 vaccine to the bloc by 60% to 31 million doses in the first quarter of the year due to concerns production, said a senior official. Reuters.

The decrease is another blow to Europe’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign after Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech SE slowed supplies of their vaccine to the block this week, saying the move was necessary due to work on to increase production.

AstraZeneca was expected to deliver around 80 million doses to 27 EU countries by the end of March, the official involved in the negotiations said.

The official added that AstraZeneca plans to start deliveries to the EU from February 15, according to the original plans.

The company confirmed the drop in deliveries without giving specific details on the size of the deficit.

“Initial volumes will be lower than originally forecast due to reduced yields at a manufacturing site in our European supply chain,” an AstraZeneca spokesperson said in a written statement.

“We will deliver tens of millions of doses in February and March to the European Union, as we continue to increase production volumes,” he said of the vaccine developed with the University of Oxford.

The UK-based drugmaker also agreed to deliver more than 80 million doses in the second quarter. On Friday, the EU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the company was unable to provide updated delivery targets for the April-June period due to production problems.

AstraZeneca told EU officials at a meeting that the reduction was due to production issues at a vaccine factory in Belgium run by its partner Novasep, the EU official said. Novasep was not immediately available for comment.

EU governments “have expressed their deep dissatisfaction with this,” EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said on Twitter after the announcement.

The European drug regulator is due to vote on the approval of AstraZeneca’s vaccine on January 29. He has already received an emergency clearance in Great Britain.

The EU has reached an agreement to purchase at least 300 million doses from AstraZeneca, with an option for an additional 100 million, which is part of the company’s global commitments to deliver more than 3 billion doses.