BRUSSELS (Reuters) – AstraZeneca Plc told European Union authorities on Friday that it would cut deliveries of its COVID-19 vaccine to the bloc by 60%, to 31 million doses in the first quarter of the year, due to production problems , said a senior Reuters official.
The reduction represents another blow to European vaccination COVID-19, after Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech SE reduced the supply of their vaccine to the bloc this week, saying the change was necessary due to increased production work.
AstraZeneca is expected to deliver around 80 million doses to the 27 EU countries by the end of March, said the official who was involved in the negotiations.
The official added that AstraZeneca planned to start deliveries to the EU from 15 February, in line with the original plans.
The company confirmed the drop in deliveries without giving specific details about the magnitude of the deficit.
“Initial volumes will be less than originally anticipated due to reduced yields at a plant within our European supply chain,” said an AstraZeneca spokesman in a written statement.
“We will be supplying tens of millions of doses in February and March to the European Union, as we continue to increase production volumes,” he said of the vaccine developed with the University of Oxford.
The UK-based pharmaceutical has also agreed to deliver more than 80 million doses in the second quarter. On Friday, the EU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the company was unable to provide updated delivery targets for the period from April to June due to production problems.
AstraZeneca told EU officials at a meeting that the cut was due to production problems at a vaccine factory in Belgium run by its partner Novasep, the EU official said. Novasep was not immediately available for comment.
EU governments “have expressed deep dissatisfaction with this,” EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said on Twitter after the announcement.
The EU drug regulator is expected to decide on the approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine on 29 January. She has already received an emergency clearance in Britain.
The EU has an agreement to buy at least 300 million doses of AstraZeneca, with an option of another 100 million, part of the company’s global commitments to provide more than 3 billion doses.
Reporting by Francesco Guarascio in Brussels; additional reporting by Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt; Editing by Chris Reese and Bill Berkrot