European Union Sues AstraZeneca Over Delayed Coronavirus Vaccine Deliveries
Medicines & Vaccines 27/04/2021 •
The European Union is suing coronavirus vaccine manufacturer AstraZeneca for delayed vaccine deliveries.

The European Union (EU) is suing coronavirus vaccine manufacturer AstraZeneca over an alleged breach of its vaccine supply contract and for not having a “reliable” plan to ensure timely deliveries. 

The European Commission – the EU’s executive branch – said the legal action emanates from a longstanding dispute over shortfall in vaccine deliveries.

The 27 nations of the EU had ordered 300 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine from the British-Swedish drug maker to be delivered by the end of June, with an option to purchase an additional 100 million. However, AstraZeneca has said that it will be able to deliver only a third of those doses – sparking the fight over the terms of the contract.

“This action is due to the continuous breach of the terms of the contract and to the lack of a reliable strategy by the company to ensure the timely supply of vaccines in the current circumstances,” Stefan De Keersmaecker, a spokesman for the European Commission, said during a televised appearance on Monday. 

Earlier this year, AstraZeneca said its supplies would be reduced because of production problems. Of the 80 million doses planned for delivery in the first quarter of 2021, only about 30 million were sent. However, Pascal Soriot, the company’s chief executive, has said that the contract with the EU is not absolute – requiring the pharma company make its “best efforts” to deliver the promised doses.

According to the European Commission, AstraZeneca has said it will provide the bloc with only 70 million doses in the second quarter of 2021 instead of the 180 million that were initially arranged.  Despite the AstraZeneca delays, the European Commission on Tuesday tweeted that there will be enough vaccine doses to immunise 70% of all EU adults by July. 

 

The EU originally planned to use AstraZeneca as the main vaccine in its roll-out, but following the supply issues, the bloc now relies mostly on the Pfizer-BioNTech jab. 

Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides on Monday tweeted that the commission’s priority was to “ensure Covid-19 vaccine deliveries take place to protect the health of the European Union”. “Every vaccine dose counts. Every vaccine dose saves lives,” she wrote.

AstraZeneca Will Contest Lawsuit 

AstraZeneca said the lawsuit was “without merit” and that it would “strongly defend itself in court”. In a statement responding to the announcement, AstraZeneca said it had “fully complied” with its agreement with the EU, and hoped to resolve the dispute as soon as possible.

“Following an unprecedented year of scientific discovery, very complex negotiations, and manufacturing challenges, our company is about to deliver almost 50m doses to European countries by the end of April, in line with our forecast,” the company said. “We are making progress addressing the technical challenges and our output is improving, but the production cycle of a vaccine is very long which means these improvements take time to result in increased finished vaccine doses,” the statement read.

“AstraZeneca has fully complied with the Advance Purchase Agreement with the European Commission and will strongly defend itself in court. We believe any litigation is without merit and we welcome this opportunity to resolve this dispute as soon as possible,” the statement read.

AstraZeneca had previously said that the contract obliged the company to make its “best effort” to meet EU demand, without compelling it to stick to a specific timetable.

Under the contract, any legal action would be heard by Belgian courts.

AstraZeneca’s Continuing Vaccine Headaches

The EU legal action is only the latest in a long series of mishaps that have plagued the roll-out of the vaccine that has been billed as the cheapest and most temperature stable option among those vaccines currently available. 

Shortly after the vaccine was registered in the United Kingdom and in the EU, AstraZeneca came under scrutiny in the United States over the way it had presented its clinical trial data with respect to efficacy in older adults. 

Some European countries also initially also advised against using the jabs among older adults, because of a lack of trial data in those age groups. of the continent.

While those questions were later resolved, reports of a rare but sometimes fatal blood clotting condition put a spotlight on the vaccine again. Those questions revolve mainly among use in younger adults, mostly women. Despite a European Medicines Agency review and assurances that the vaccine is safe for all age groups, some European countries, such as Germany, decided to recommend the vaccine only among older people. Other countries, such as Denmark, scrapped use of the vaccine altogether. 

Shortly after that, AstraZeneca’s Indian manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India, which was supposed to be the main pillar of vaccine deliveries to the WHO co-sponsored COVAX global vaccine initiative, halted shipments to COVAX – in order to redirect vaccines to the surging needs in India.  That has left many African countries, in particular, worried about receipt of their next vaccine supplies.  

Schoolchildren gather in the playground as they return to classes at Lepeltier Primary School in La Trinite, near Nice, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in France.

Some European Countries Ease COVID Restrictions

On a more positive note, the European Commission’s announcement of legal action on Monday came even as some EU countries began to ease COVID restrictions as new cases European vaccination campaigns began making small inroads into recent surges in COVID cases.  Around the continent about 20% of the total population have received at least one vaccine dose, rising to about 28% in Serbia.  

Millions of French children returned to the classroom, as primary schools and nurseries reopened following a three-week shutdown. In Italy, restaurants and bars in much of the country were allowed to serve customers outside, while hairdressers in Belgium reopened their doors. Even so, the mayor of the Spanish city of Pamplona announced that the annual Sanfermín fiesta in July – with its famous running of the bulls – would be cancelled for a second year.

Outside of the EU, Turkey announced a coronavirus lockdown until 17 May in a bid to curb a surge in coronavirus cases and deaths.

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