Emotions have been running high on news channels, after COVID vaccine maker AstraZeneca announced delivery delays in Europe. But recent news suggests these are the result of delayed ordering. CEO Pascal Soriot outlined AstraZeneca’s response to EU delivery delays on January 26, 2021.
European Union Delays in Signing Caused Shortage
The AstraZeneca vaccine completed successful trials on November 23, 2020. Until that point everything was in limbo, including finally confirming orders, and rolling out production capacity. The United Kingdom had signed orders with BioNtech, Pfizer, and Astra Zeneca by July 20, 2020. However, Pascal Soriot says European Union waited three months longer.
There was therefore far less time to ‘sort out issues’ involved with scaling up production according to the CEO. ‘That’s because it’s complicated,’ Siriot told La Repubblica newspaper. ‘We believe we’ve sorted out those issues, but we are basically two months behind where we wanted to be.’ Moreover, delivering millions of doses to demanding safety standards is not a small order.
The EU Response to AstraZeneca’s Delivery Delays
European Union nations expressed extreme displeasure at what appears to be a two-month delay to aspects of their vaccination program. They also face increasingly loud opposition from citizens against the stop-gap lock downs that will now continue longer.
The Union is currently considering ‘restricting exports of vaccines made in the bloc’ according to BBC news channel. European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides says European makers will need to supply early notifications of their intentions.
Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen told World Economic Forum ‘Europe invested billions to help develop the world’s first Covid-19 vaccines. And now, the companies must deliver,’ she says. ‘They must honor their obligations, including supplying from UK plants. We hope this matter can be settled amicably, and vaccinations can continue before the situation deteriorates further.
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Preview Image: European Union Testing Vaccines
