Muqeem Ahmed, EU,
European Commission decides to go to court against vaccine maker AstraZeneca because it intends to supply the EU with only one-third of the required vaccine orders.
All 27 countries in the bloc agree with this decision and believe that AstraZeneca is not abiding by the agreement reached with the EU.
A spokesman for the European Commission said “What merit to us in this case that we want make sure the speedy delivery of sufficient number of doses that EU citizens are entitled to be on basis of the contract”.
AstraZeneca will make its full and legitimate effort to deliver 180 million doses by the second quarter of this year, which amounts to 300 million doses from December to June. But AstraZeneca said in a statement on March 12 that it intends to provide a third part of the order.
The European Commission issued a legal notice to AstraZeneca a week later that is the first step towards resolving the issue legally and in the notice, the company is accused of not having a coordinated and systematic program for timely delivery of the required vaccine. It is believed that the move could disrupt vaccine supplies.
