AstraZeneca Yet To React On EU letter On The Vaccines – Corriere

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AstraZeneca has yet to react to a letter sent by the ECU Commission to complain over below-contract supplies of COVID-19 vaccines, Italian daily Corriere Della Sera said, adding the Anglo-Swedish group missed a deadline indicated by Brussels.

The European trade unionist states and therefore the drug company are at odds over the delivery of the shots after the group shipped to the block but indicated within the initial agreement.

“AstraZeneca has breached and continues to breach its contractual obligations on the assembly and provide of the initial 300 million doses for Europe,” EU Head of Health and Food Safety DG Sandra Gallina said during a letter sent to the corporate on Saint Joseph, consistent with Corriere.

The Italian daily said that Brussels had asked AstraZeneca to “remedy the fabric breaches of contract within 20 days of the letter”, but added that the deadline expired two days ago with no reaction from the corporate.

AstraZeneca has not replied to an invitation for comment from Reuters.

A spokesman for the ECU Commission confirmed that Brussels on Saint Joseph sent a written message to AstraZeneca, calling it “a notice for dispute settlement”, adding this was a primary step to interact in a dialogue to resolve the difficulty.

“At this stage, we are still expecting the required elements … we remain in touch with AstraZeneca to make sure timely delivery of a sufficient number of doses,” the spokesman told Reuters, without elaborating.

According to the contract signed between the EU and therefore the company, which is public, if a dispute arises one among the parties shall first notify the matter with a letter. Then, after 20 days from the written notice, they “shall meet and plan to resolve the dispute by straightness negotiations”.

Under the contract signed on COVID-19 vaccines, the ECU Union states had expected to receive 120 million doses by the top of March from AstraZeneca, but the corporate had supplied only 30.12 million doses, Corriere said.

With contagion still rising in many European countries and vaccination campaigns hitting hurdles, some governments are shown increasing irritation against the pharma group.

“Manifestly, they (AstraZeneca) didn’t honor their commitments, and thus, during a certain way, they were mocking us Europeans,” France’s European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said on Sunday, chatting with LCI newscast channel.

Beaune said that the EU letter to the Anglo-Swedish group could even cause a battle in court.

“We sent a proper notice in recent days, it’s the start of a possible judicial procedure if the corporate doesn’t make things better,” he said, adding that putting pressure on the corporate to accelerate production in Europe seemed to be a far better option compared with starting a legal process, which might take time.