A vial of the COVID-19 vaccine from Oxford University / AstraZeneca is seen at Lochee Health Center in Dundee, Scotland, UK, on 4 January 2021.
Andy Buchanan | Swimming pool | Reuters
The European vaccination campaign against Covid-19 was received again on Friday when AstraZeneca said initial deliveries in the region will be below target volumes due to a production error.
“Initial volumes will be lower than initially expected due to reduced yields at a manufacturing center in our European supply chain,” a company spokesman said in a written statement, refusing to provide details.
The slip comes at a European vaccination campaign that has already been hampered by a temporary shortfall in the supply chain of vaccine developers Pfizer and BioNTech, which are reorganizing a site in Belgium to increase production.
The EU Commission said Astra had informed the EU Vaccination Board of a change in the delivery schedule and that the Commission was working to get more information.
Although the BioNTech product, as well as a vaccine made by the American biotechnology firm Moderna, have already been launched after obtaining regulatory approval, a decision is expected at the end of January. the EU on regulatory approval of Astra compound.
“We will supply tens of millions of doses in February and March to the European Union as we continue to increase production volumes,” said the British pharmacist, who is partnering with Oxford University. The spokesman would not provide the initial volume target.
The EU has reached an agreement to buy at least 300 million doses from Astra, with an option for an additional 100 million, part of the company’s global commitments to supply more than 3 billion doses.
Austrian Health Minister Rudolf Anschober warned AstraZeneca that any delay would be “absolutely unacceptable”, although he failed to confirm reports to Austrian media that the company had told the country it could only supply 600,000 doses of vaccine in the country. first quarter instead of the 2 million initially planned.
“The agreed delivery amounts need to be adhered to,” Anschober said in a statement following media reports, including the newspaper Kurier and the national news agency APA.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said Monday that he and his counterparts in Denmark and Greece would pressure the European Medicines Agency to swiftly approve AstraZeneca’s vaccine. The Baltic states and the Czech Republic have joined this effort.