A European Union official said on Sunday that the UK will not receive shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccine that were produced in the Netherlands, as the EU tries to reserve doses of the vaccine for its citizens.
Speaking to Reuters, an unidentified EU official said: “The British are insisting that Halix’s factory in the Netherlands must deliver the drug substance produced there for them. It does not work.”
The factory, based in the Dutch city of Leiden, is run by a subcontractor named Halix and is responsible for supplying AstraZeneca’s contracts with Britain and the EU, reports Reuters.
“What is produced in Halix has to go to the EU,” said the EU official.
“The European Commission will know that the rest of the world is looking to the Commission, about how it behaves about it, and if contracts are broken, and commitments, this is a very harmful thing to happen for a trade bloc that is proud of its rules of the law, “British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said on Sunday in response to reports that European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen threatened to block shipments to Britain.
The EU had threatened to block AstraZeneca vaccine exports to the UK, with Von der Leyen saying the situation in Europe was getting worse.
However, the EU official responded, telling Reuters that no contracts were broken.
Reuters notes that while the AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use in the EU, approval for Halix has not yet been received. Documents obtained by the media show that Halix expects to receive approval by Thursday.
According to the most recent report by the British National Health Service, 20,661,496 people received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, representing 45.4% of the UK population over 16 years old.
This dispute arises shortly after several European countries temporarily suspended the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to concerns that it would cause blood clots. Countries like Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland and Norway have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine pending a recommendation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
On Thursday, EMA announced that it considered the AstraZeneca vaccine safe and effective, although it could not rule out a link between the injection and blood clots. The EMA said the benefits of the shot far outweigh the potential risks.
“Our scientific position is that this vaccine is a safe and effective option to protect citizens against COVID-19,” said EMA Executive Director Emer Cooke. “We made this review our top priority.”