EU, AstraZeneca fail to resolve vaccine delays

The EU and representatives of vaccine company AstraZeneca failed Wednesday to resolve a dispute over vaccine deliveries for EU citizens.

EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides and AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot discussed the delivery of his company's vaccine in line with the contractual arrangements foreseen in the advanced purchasing agreement, Kyriakides said on Twitter.

"Constructive tone in our exchange with @AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, in our Vaccine Steering Board, on deliveries of their vaccine following approval," she said, referring to the meeting.

"We regret the continued lack of clarity on the delivery schedule and request a clear plan from AstraZeneca for the fast delivery of the quantity of vaccines that we reserved for Q1.

"We will work with the company to find solutions and deliver vaccines rapidly for EU citizens," Kyriakides added.

The dispute arose after AstraZeneca and the UK's Oxford University, which jointly developed the vaccine, last week declared that they would not be able to provide as many vaccine deliveries to Europe as had been expected as they await approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) by the end of the month.

The bloc also made vaccine purchase deals with Moderna, CureVac, Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi/GlaxoSmithKline.

"We reject the logic of first come, first served. That may work at the neighborhood butchers, but not in contracts. And not in our Advance Purchase Agreements," Kyriakides added following the meeting.

She also reiterated that AstraZeneca needs to deliver on its commitments in its agreement.