Vaccine shift

EU plans to extend contract with Pfizer amid doubts about Astrazeneca’s shot

BRUSSELS — In a stinging rebuke to pharma giant Astrazeneca Wednesday, the European Union announced plans to negotiate a massive contract extension for Pfizer-biontech’s COVID-19 vaccine, insisting the 27-nation bloc had to go with companies that had shown their value in the pandemic.

“We need to focus on technologies that have proven their worth,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. She also announced that America’s Pfizer and Germany’s Biontech would provide the EU with an extra 50 million doses in the 2nd quarter of this year, making up for faltering deliveries of Astrazeneca.

In contrast to the oft-criticized Anglo-swedish company, von der Leyen said Pfizer-biontech “has proven to be a reliable partner. It has delivered on its commitments, and it is responsive to our needs. This is to the immediate benefit of EU citizens.”

Exacerbating the problems for Astrazeneca, Denmark decided Wednesday not to resume use of its vaccine, after putting it on hold last month following reports of rare blood clots in some recipients. The bulk of the shots given in the Scandinavian country so far have been the Pfizer-biontech vaccine.

The Johnson & Johnson jab, which uses the same base technology as Astrazeneca, hit a snag this week when U.S. regulators recommended a “pause” in administering Johnson & Johnson shots. Deliveries in the EU have been suspended.

Astrazeneca was supposed to be the workhorse of the EU’S vaccine drive this year — a cheap and easy-to-transport shot to break the pandemic’s back. Yet, the EU said that out of 120 million doses promised for the 1st quarter, only 30 million were delivered, and, of the 180 million expected, now there are only 70 million set for delivery in the 2nd quarter.

Because of that shortfall, the EU has come under crushing pressure as it cannot get its vaccinations even close to the levels of the United Kingdom and the United States even though it it is a major producer and exporter of vaccines.

Meanwhile, European countries diverged Wednesday on whether they would push ahead with giving their residents Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine after reports of rare blood clots in a handful of recipients in the United States.

While some European Union members put the vaccine on hold as recommended by the American company, Poland, France and Hungary said they would administer the doses that had arrived as the EU’S 27 nations face pressure to speed up their immunization drives.

France, which received 200,000 J&J doses, said it is sticking to its plan to start administering the vaccine in the middle of next week to people age 55 and over. Hungary also said it would move ahead with the doses it received. It plans to distribute them using buses that bring vaccines to rural areas. Other countries decided to hold up. Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said his government was waiting for further information from the FDA and the EMA to decide how to proceed with the initial 180,000 doses that arrived Tuesday in Italy.

The Netherlands also put the

80,000 Johnson & Johnson doses it received into storage, as did Denmark, Croatia and Romania with their batches. South Africa suspended the shot as a “precautionary measure.”