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Published image, Reuters
AstraZenka struggles to ramp up vaccine manufacturing with two factories in the Netherlands and Belgium
AstraZeneca president defended the plan to distribute the coronavirus vaccine in the European Union, amid tensions with member states over the delay in their supply of the vaccine, and held the Union responsible for the delay in the signing of an agreement between them.
Pascal Soriot told Italian newspaper La Repubblica that his team is working “24 hours a day, seven days a week, to solve the many problems associated with vaccine production.”
He added that production “is essentially two months behind the date we wanted.”
He also explained that the European Union’s late decision to sign contracts had reduced the time needed to identify areas of supply disruption.
Suriot, CEO of the Anglo-Swedish company, cited the contract he signed with Britain three months before the move from the European Union, which leaves more time to resolve any loopholes that may arise during the the distribution of vaccines in Great Britain.
He told the “Repubblica” newspaper that they had encountered problems “increasing” the production of the vaccine in two factories, one in the Netherlands and the other in Belgium.
“It’s complicated, especially at the beginning when you really have to sort through all kinds of obstacles,” he added.
“We think we’ve solved these issues, but basically we’re two months behind the time we wanted.”
He added: “We also have supply chain issues like these in Britain. But a contract was signed there three months before the EU vaccine deal. So we have three more months. to solve all the problems we face. “
“Do I want to do a better job? Of course I do,” Suriot asked.
But, as you know, if we present next February what we plan to deliver, it is not a small amount. We are planning to deliver millions of doses to Europe, and this is not a small amount.
Astrazenka’s chief executive also said his company is working on a vaccine with the University of Oxford that targets the strain that has emerged in South Africa.
Published image, Getty Images
AstraZenka Suriot chief said they were working on a vaccine against the novel South African coronavirus
Scientists have warned that the effectiveness of current vaccines could be affected by the strain from South Africa.
Britain is already using the AstraZenka vaccine, but European Union approval has yet to take place, although the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is expected to give the green light at the end of this month .
The union signed an agreement last August to acquire 300 million doses with an option to add another 100 million doses.
The European Union had hoped that once approval was obtained immediate delivery would begin, and then around 80 million doses would reach 27 countries next March.
The European Union has also requested 600 million doses of the Pfizer-Bionic vaccine, which is already in use across the European Union.
But Pfizer-Biontech said last week it would delay deliveries for the next few weeks due to work to increase production capacity at its Belgian plant.
In an attempt to cope with the delay, the European Union has said it may restrict exports of vaccines made in Union countries until domestic needs are met first.
Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said companies that manufacture Covid-19 vaccines in the European bloc must “provide early notification whenever they want to export vaccines to countries outside the Union”.
She added that the European bloc made up of 27 countries “will take all necessary measures to protect its citizens”.
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