* Export movement could undermine AstraZeneca’s plans to fill the EU supply gap
* EU-US vaccine negotiations continue – official
* The EU tries to get “complicated” photos of India’s Astra – source
BRUSSELS, March 11 (Reuters) – Washington has told the European Union that it should not expect to receive the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines made in the United States anytime soon, two EU sources said on Thursday in a new blow to the bloc’s supplies. .
The US message could complicate the vaccination plans of the 27-nation bloc, which has struggled since January with delays in deliveries from vaccine manufacturers.
“The US told us that there was no way to send AstraZeneca vaccines to the EU,” said a senior official directly involved in the EU-US negotiations.
AstraZeneca told the EU earlier this year that it would cut its supplies in the second quarter by at least half, to less than 90 million doses, EU sources told Reuters, after a further reduction in the first three months of the year.
Later, however, AstraZeneca offered to partially fill the gap with vaccines produced outside Europe, including in the United States.
An EU diplomat said the European Commission told diplomats from member states at a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday that the bloc should not expect any exports from the United States “at this time”.
“Basically, the situation is such that any export is complicated, but there is a desire to talk,” said the diplomat.
AstraZeneca declined to comment and the White House did not immediately comment
It is not known what is behind the possible movement of exports. It is not clear whether AstraZeneca is producing many vaccines in the United States or whether the United States would apply a restrictive measure to trade. The AstraZeneca vaccine has not yet been approved for use in the United States.
The move comes after Austria stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca vaccines while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and a disease from pulmonary embolism.
Asked about vaccine negotiations with the United States, European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said on Thursday: “Whatever the legal situation in the United States, we want to work on the ground with the United States to maintain supply chains. open supply. ”
“We are not going to give a step-by-step account of the discussions that are taking place with our American partners.”
But the EU executive did not answer specific questions about a possible movement in US exports.
The US stance could undermine AstraZeneca’s attempts to bring deliveries closer to its contractual obligation with the EU of 180 million doses in the second quarter.
US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that the US government will first give Americans the COVID-19 vaccines, but any surplus will be shared with the world.
AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccines are produced in the United States at a factory near Baltimore administered by Catalent, which is listed in the EU supply contract with AstraZeneca as a “backup supply location” and has been authorized by the drug regulator of AstraZeneca. EU as a manufacturer of vaccine ingredients.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen had a liaison with Biden last week, which was followed this week by a meeting between EU industry commissioner Thierry Breton and the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, Jeffrey Zients.
In both negotiations, vaccines were discussed, according to EU statements issued later.
Vaccine negotiations with the US continue, with new connections expected this week, an EU official said.
INDIA
AstraZeneca also told the EU that it could supply extra doses to the EU in India, where its vaccines are manufactured by the Serum Institute.
EU drug regulators are currently reviewing Serum’s manufacturing site, Reuters reported exclusively in early March.
But another EU official said on Thursday that the audit process was “complicated” because both the site and the substances used to produce the vaccine needed to be authorized.
The USA is also part of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine production network that will be used in the EU, because according to the EU-J & J contract, vaccines made in the Netherlands would need to be bottled in the USA
The sources made no reference to the potential US obstacles to the shipment of J&J vaccines to the EU, but several European diplomats said they were concerned about the production of J&J.
Reuters reported exclusively on Tuesday that J&J told the EU it was experiencing supply problems that could complicate plans to deliver 55 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the bloc in the second quarter of the year.
J&J plans to start supplying the EU in April. His vaccine was recommended on Thursday by the European drug regulatory agency for use in the EU.
In a separate development, health officials in Denmark, Norway and Iceland said they had stopped using AstraZeneca vaccines after reports of blood clots forming in some who were vaccinated.
AstraZeneca said on Thursday to Reuters in a written statement that the safety of its vaccine has been extensively studied in tests on humans and peer-reviewed data confirmed that the vaccine was generally well tolerated.
Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio and John Chalmers; additional reporting by Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt and Nandita Bose in Washington; edition by Nick Macfie