Home EU Allows AstraZeneca to Delay Vaccine Contract Fulfillment, Requires 120 Million Doses by End of June

EU Allows AstraZeneca to Delay Vaccine Contract Fulfillment, Requires 120 Million Doses by End of June

May 11, 2021 17:31 CST Updated 17:31
AstraZeneca

Biopharmaceutical Manufacturer

European Union

The European Union (German: Europäische Union; French: Union européenne), abbreviated as the EU, is headquartered in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. It evolved from the European Communities and originally had six founding member states: Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. The Union currently has 28 member states and 24 official languages.In December 1991, the European Council meeting in Maastricht adopted the Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty. On November 1, 1993, the Maastricht Treaty officially entered into force, marking the formal establishment of the European Union. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.Donald Tusk serves as President of the European Council, and Antonio Tajani is President of the European Parliament. Jean-Claude Juncker, former Prime Minister of Luxembourg, is President of the European Commission.The EU’s treaties have been amended multiple times, and its operations are governed by the Treaty of Lisbon. Politically, all member states are democracies (according to The Economist’s 2008 Democracy Index). Economically, it constitutes the world’s second-largest economic entity (with Germany, France, and Italy being members of the G8). Militarily, the vast majority of EU member states are also members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

On May 11, a European Union acting lawyer revealed on Tuesday that the EU had agreed to allow AstraZeneca to delay fulfillment of its COVID-19 vaccine contract by three months, on the condition that AstraZeneca deliver 120 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine before June. Under the initial agreement between AstraZeneca and the EU, AstraZeneca was required to deliver 300 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to the EU by the end of June; however, only 50 million doses have been delivered to date.

*Disclaimer: This article was written by an author contributing to Sina Medical News. The views expressed are solely those of the author and do not represent the position of Sina Medical News.