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Vaccines

EU and UK Reach Vaccine Supply Agreement Amid Ongoing AstraZeneca Row

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, has announced that she secured assurances from Boris Johnson that the EU would receive vaccine supplies from AstraZeneca factories in Britain. The agreement comes amidst a bitter row between the EU and AstraZeneca over vaccine delivery schedules. According to von der Leyen, Johnson promised that the UK would not seek exclusive access to AstraZeneca's supplies. The EU had been threatened with an export ban on vaccines from Pfizer's Belgian plant, which could have stopped deliveries to Britain.

Key Takeaways:

  • The EU and UK have reached an agreement on vaccine supply, with the EU to receive doses from AstraZeneca factories in Britain.
  • Ursula von der Leyen secured assurances from Boris Johnson that the UK would not seek exclusive access to AstraZeneca's supplies.
  • The agreement comes after a bitter row between the EU and AstraZeneca over vaccine delivery schedules.
  • AstraZeneca had promised to deliver 100 million vaccines in the first quarter, but only 25 million could be supplied due to production issues.
  • The EU suspects that AstraZeneca may have sold EU-reserved stock to other countries such as the UK and USA.
  • The European Commission has rejected a peace offering of an extra eight million vaccines from AstraZeneca.
  • Bayer has agreed to help CureVac produce its experimental Covid-19 vaccine, with an expected output of 160 million doses in 2022.
  • The EU's coronavirus vaccine strategy aims to ensure that 70% of EU citizens are vaccinated by summer.
  • The EU has 25 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, still short of its target of 100 million doses.

Statistics:

  • 100 million: the number of AstraZeneca vaccines promised for the first quarter.
  • 100 million: the number of AstraZeneca vaccines still needed to fulfill the EU's target.
  • 25 million: the number of AstraZeneca vaccines supplied in the first quarter.
  • 160 million: the number of doses of CureVac's vaccine that Bayer will produce in 2022.
  • 9 million: the number of additional AstraZeneca vaccines promised to the EU.
  • 75 million: the number of additional Pfizer vaccines to be delivered to the EU in the second quarter.
  • 70%: the EU's target vaccination rate by summer.

Sources:

  • Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president, on German television
  • Reuters
  • AFP

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