View of the Oxford University / AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine boxes at Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, West Sussex, UK, 2 January 2021.
Gareth Fuller | Reuters
LONDON – AstraZeneca’s covid-19 vaccine could be available across the European Union by mid-February, an EU official said Tuesday, after the pharmaceutical company filed for approval for distribution in the 27-member bloc.
The European Medicines Agency announced Tuesday that it is now studying the results of the AstraZeneca and Oxford University vaccine according to an “accelerated timeline” and could issue advice as early as January 29. This jab has been rolled out in the UK since early. January.
“If we were to receive a successful authorization for the AstraZeneca contract … we hope that AstraZeneca can make the first delivery two weeks after that authorization,” said Sandra Gallina, Director General for Health and Food Safety at the European Commission. lawmakers on Tuesday morning.
“And they are thinking of two deliveries a month, but this is all in the works, they need to discuss this with Member States,” she added.
The EU has a contract with AstraZeneca to purchase up to 400 million doses of its vaccine. One of its advantages is that it can be stored in normal fridges instead of extremely cold temperatures like some of its competitors. However, this jab has also received some criticism after the manufacturers admitted a bug in late November, which was subsequently corrected.
This would be the third vaccination approval in the EU to contain the pandemic. The block has been vaccinating citizens with the Pfizer / BioNTech shot since late December, and the Moderna vaccine was given the green light for distribution last week.
Gallina told lawmakers the first Moderna jabs were spread across member states on Monday.
We bought as much as it was offered.
Sandra Gallina
Director General at the European Commission
Nevertheless, the European Commission has been blamed for what critics describe as a slow rollout of coronavirus vaccines. Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin sent the committee a letter on Monday urging the institution to speed up the distribution of the vaccines.
“I find it another mystery why we didn’t buy more,” said Gallina, who has been the chief negotiator at the pharmaceutical companies.
“We bought as much as was offered,” she explained.
“It’s not just quantities that you negotiate, you negotiate a specific quantity for that moment, so that we have all the quantities that can be produced,” Gallina added.
The rate of vaccination varies across 27 countries, partly due to red tape and lack of preparation by some governments.
According to Gallina, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control will provide figures from next week on how many citizens in the EU have been vaccinated twice a week.
AstraZeneca’s shares fell during early trading in Europe.