Drug maker AstraZeneca has agreed to provide 9 million additional doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to European Union (EU) member states amid a dispute with the block over the number of doses available due to a delivery problem.
The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, wrote on Twitter that an agreement had been reached to provide more vaccines. The company had offered 8 million doses on Thursday, totaling 31 million for the first quarter of 2021, but revised that number to 40 million on Sunday. AstraZeneca had originally promised 400 million doses of its vaccine, which was approved for EU member states across Europe last week, but earlier in January it mentioned production problems at a factory in Belgium and said it would need to review the number. to provide.
“Step forward in vaccines. @AstraZeneca will deliver 9 million additional doses in the first quarter (40 million in total) compared to last week’s supply and will deliver one week ahead of schedule. The company will also increase its manufacturing capacity. expand in Europe, “tweeted von der Leyen.
Step forward with vaccines.@AstraZeneca will deliver an additional 9 million doses in the first quarter (40 million in total) compared to last week’s supply and will begin deliveries a week ahead of schedule.
The company will also expand its production capacity in Europe.
– Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) January 31, 2021
Von der Leyen has added in previous tweets that she still expects the company to deliver on its promise to provide the rest of the 400 million doses when it can.
AstraZeneca did not immediately return a request for comment.
Several vaccines for COVID-19 are now approved across Europe, including those from AstraZeneca and those produced by Moderna and Pfizer. Still, the number of new COVID-19 cases remains high, due in part to the spread of new variants of the disease, including one believed to have originated in the UK and which experts say is more contagious than previous iterations of the virus.