The European Commission says AstraZeneca’s explanations so far for delays in delivering its Covid-19 vaccines have been “insufficient”.
The reduction in supplies to EU countries means Ireland’s expected share of 600 thousand doses before the end of March would be halved.
EU officials have said Astrazeneca’s plants based in the UK will need to share production of vaccines with member states.
The company says the delays are due to the EU signing a deal three months after Britain.
But that explanation’s been dismissed by Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides.
The European Commission says AstraZeneca has a “moral obligation” to meet the terms of its agreement on delivering Covid-19 vaccines.
The reduction in supply means Ireland is expected to get around 300 thousand doses, instead of 600 thousand, by the end of March.
The company’s CEO has claimed it never agreed to a specific timeline – and would deliver doses on a “best effort” basis – But the European Commission says that’s incorrect and unacceptable.
Speaking from Brussels reporter Naomi O’Leary has told KCLR that there’s conflicting reports of what the company signed up to deliver so it’s hard to know how it’s going to turn out when we don’t have the actual wording of the order contract.
