Shortfall in deliveries of vaccine to EU

BRUSSELS: AstraZeneca Plc has told the European Union it expects to deliver less than half the Covid19 vaccines it was contracted to supply in the second quarter, an EU official told Reuters yesterday.

Contacted by Reuters, AstraZeneca did not deny what the official said, but later in the day issued a statement saying the company was striving to increase productivity to deliver the promised 180 million doses.

The expected shortfall, not previously reported, follows a big reduction in supplies in the first quarter and could hit the EU’s ability to meet its target of vaccinating 70% of adults by summer.

The EU official, who is directly involved in talks with the AngloSwedish drugmaker, said the company had told the bloc it ‘‘would deliver less than 90 million doses in the second quarter’’.

AstraZeneca’s contract with the EU, leaked last week, showed the company had committed to delivering 180 million doses to the 27nation bloc in the second quarter.

Of the EU official’s comment, an AstraZeneca spokesman initially said, ‘‘We are hopeful that we will be able to bring our deliveries closer in line with the advance purchase agreement.’’

Later in the day, a new statement said the company’s ‘‘most recent Q2 forecast for the delivery of its Covid19 vaccine aims to deliver in line with its contract with the European Commission’’.

It added the firm was ‘‘working to increase productivity in its EU supply chain . . . in order to achieve delivery of 180 million doses to the EU in the second quarter.’’

A spokesman for the European Commission, which coordinates talks with vaccine manufacturers, declined to comment on the talks, but said the EU should have enough shots to hit its vaccination targets if the expected and agreed deliveries from other suppliers were met.

The EU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed AstraZeneca planned to deliver about 40 million doses in the first quarter, less than half the 90 million planned.

AstraZeneca warned the EU in January that it would fall short of its firstquarter commitments.

All told, AstraZeneca’s total supply to the EU could be about 130 million doses by the end of June, well below the 300 million it committed to deliver by then.

The EU has also faced delays in deliveries of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech as well as Moderna’s shot.

Some member states, such as Hungary, are using shots developed in China and Russia, not approved by the EU. — Reuters