AstraZeneca’s may be distributed in the EU in mid-February

LONDON – AstraZeneca’s covid-19 vaccine may be available across the European Union in mid-February, an EU official said on Tuesday after the pharmaceutical company applied for approval of the distribution in the 27-member bloc.

The European Medicines Agency announced on Tuesday that it is now studying the results of the AstraZeneca and Oxford University vaccine on an “accelerated schedule” and can issue its opinion as early as January 29. This jab has been launched in the UK since early January.

“If we had a successful authorization for the AstraZeneca contract … we hope that two weeks after that authorization, AstraZeneca will be able to deliver the first delivery,” said Sandra Gallina, director general of health and food safety at the European Commission lawmakers Tuesday morning.

“And they are thinking that I would say two deliveries a month, but this is being done, they need to discuss this with the member states,” he added.

The EU has a contract with AstraZeneca to purchase up to 400 million doses of its vaccine. One of its benefits is that it can be stored in normal refrigerators, rather than at extremely low temperatures, like some of its competitors. However, this jab was also criticized after manufacturers admitted an error in late November, which was corrected.

This would be the third vaccine approval in the EU to contain the pandemic. The bloc has vaccinated citizens with the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine since late December and the Moderna vaccine received the green light for distribution last week.

Gallina told lawmakers that Moderna’s first jabs started being distributed among member states on Monday.

However, the European Commission has been held responsible for what critics describe as a slow launch of coronavirus vaccines. Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin sent a letter to the commission on Monday urging the institution to speed up the distribution of vaccines.

“I am intrigued again by the debate over why we don’t buy more,” said Gallina, who has been the chief negotiator with pharmaceutical companies.

“We bought as much as was offered,” she explained.

“It’s not just the quantity you trade, you trade a specific quantity for that moment, so we have all the quantities that can be produced,” added Gallina.

The speed of vaccination differed between the 27 countries, partly due to bureaucracy and the lack of preparation by some governments.

According to Gallina, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control will provide data on how many citizens have been vaccinated across the EU twice a week starting next week.

AstraZeneca’s shares fell in the first trades in Europe.