EU Does Not Renew AstraZeneca Vaccine Contract Following $18 Billion Pfizer Deal
AstraZeneca
Biopharmaceutical Manufacturer
European Union
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China News Service, May 10 – According to Chinese American Network, the European Union did not renew its contract with AstraZeneca, which was set to expire in June, after accusing the company last month of failing to fulfill its initial COVID-19 vaccine contract.
According to Reuters, Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for Internal Market, stated, “We have not renewed orders beyond June. We will wait and see.” However, he did not rule out the possibility of renewing contracts with AstraZeneca at a later date.
The European Commission recently announced that it has signed an order with Pfizer for the supply of 1.8 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines over two years. Breton expects the cost of purchasing Pfizer’s vaccine to be higher than that of AstraZeneca’s.
Tensions between the European Union and AstraZeneca have persisted for months, after the company twice stated it would be unable to deliver the previously committed doses to the EU. Last month, the EU sued AstraZeneca, accusing the company of failing to fulfill its vaccine contract.
AstraZeneca refuted the allegations in the lawsuit in a statement at the time, stating that the company would "deliver nearly 50 million vaccine doses to European countries by the end of April, in line with our expectations."
Furthermore, after discovering a potential link with rare blood clots, several countries in the European Union had previously suspended the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Last month, the UK's drug regulatory authority recommended restricting the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to individuals aged 30 and above.
European drug regulators stated on the 7th that they are reviewing case reports related to thrombosis. The European Medicines Agency had previously indicated that the AstraZeneca vaccine may be associated with blood clots, but noted that most cases occurred in women under the age of 60, and therefore classified thrombosis as an “extremely rare” side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The agency emphasized that the benefits of receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine still outweigh the risks, and thus recommended continuing vaccination for adults.