A European Union official said on Sunday that the United Kingdom will not receive shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccine produced in the Netherlands as the EU tries to reserve doses of the vaccine for its citizens.
An unnamed EU official told Reuters: “The British insist that the Halix factory in the Netherlands must deliver the drug produced there to them. That is not working.”
The factory, located in the Dutch city of Leiden, is run by a subcontractor called Halix and is responsible for supplying AstraZeneca’s contracts with Britain and the EU, Reuters reports.
“What is produced in Halix must go to the EU,” said the EU official.
“The European Commission will know that the rest of the world is looking at the Commission, how it behaves in it, and breaking contracts and making commitments is a very damaging thing for a proud trading bloc. about the rules of the law, ”British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said earlier on Sunday in response to reports that European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen had threatened to block shipments to Britain.
The EU had previously threatened to block exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the UK, with von der Leyen saying the situation in Europe was worsening.
However, the EU official fired back, telling Reuters that no contracts had been broken.
Reuters notes that while the AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use in the EU, no approval has yet been received for Halix. Documents obtained by the news center show that Halix expects to receive approval on Thursday.
According to the most recent report from the British National Health Service, 20,661,496 people have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, accounting for 45.4 percent of the UK population over 16 years of age.
This dispute comes shortly after several European countries temporarily halted the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine over concerns that it was causing blood clots. Countries such as Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland and Norway have all suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine pending a recommendation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
On Thursday, the EMA announced that it found the AstraZeneca vaccine to be safe and effective, although it could not rule out a link between the injection and blood clots. The EMA said the benefits of the shot far outweighed the potential risks.
“Our scientific view is that this vaccine is a safe and effective option to protect citizens from COVID-19,” said Emer Cooke, EMA director. “We have made this review our top priority.”