AstraZeneca Sued by EU Over Vaccine Shipment Delays

TUESDAY, April 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) — AstraZeneca is being sued by the European Union (EU) for delays in shipping hundreds of millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses.

European officials say AstraZeneca broke its contract when it said it would deliver only a third of the 300 million doses that European officials had been expecting by the end of June, The New York Times reported.

Trouble between the bloc and the company began in January when AstraZeneca said it would provide the bloc with far fewer vaccine doses than expected for the first quarter of the year. That set back the bloc’s vaccination campaign by weeks as cases climbed and political leaders were criticized for inadequate planning, The Times reported.

AstraZeneca, which developed the vaccine with the University of Oxford, has said that the EU finalized its contract months after Britain did, giving the company less time to iron out any manufacturing difficulties, The Times reported.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is being used in 135 countries.

The New York Times Article