Italy is reportedly blocking the export of a shipment of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines to Australia because the company has not delivered all of the promised doses to the European Union.
Two sources told Reuters for a report published Thursday that the decision is supported by the European Commission.
AstraZeneca had wanted Italy to send 250,000 doses of the vaccine to Australia from a factory near Rome, sources told Reuters. But the The EU gave countries the right to block shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was being developed in partnership with Oxford University, after disputes broke out over the company’s failure to deliver the promised amount of vaccine doses.
In January AstraZeneca cut back on its previously promised 80 million doses to 31 million. The cut came at a time when the EU was already being accused of slow vaccine roll-out.
In response, the European Commission told countries that they could block shipments of the vaccine.
The Hill has contacted AstraZeneca for further comment.
Countries are rushing to vaccinate their populations as vaccination is seen as the key to reopening businesses and returning to pre-pandemic economic conditions.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine has not yet been approved for use in the US The three vaccines currently available in America come from drug manufacturers Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and most recently Johnson & Johnson.