EU Files Lawsuit Against AZ Over Vaccine Supply Delays... "Aim Is to Pressure for Volume Delivery"

AZ Vaccine Delays Result in Vaccination Rate Less Than Half of UK's
Experts Say "If EU Wins, AZ May Be Forced to Surrender Some Vaccines"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] The European Union (EU) has filed a lawsuit against AstraZeneca (AZ) over delays in vaccine supply. This has led to observations that the conflict between the EU and AZ over vaccine supply has entered a new phase.

According to major foreign media on the 26th (local time), the EU Commission announced that it filed a lawsuit against AZ for breach of contract, citing the delivery of fewer vaccines than originally agreed. An EU spokesperson said, "The lawsuit process began on the 23rd, and all 27 member states supported this lawsuit." Previously, the EU attempted to reach an agreement with AZ through arbitration procedures but failed to find common ground, ultimately leading to the start of litigation.

The trial regarding the lawsuit between the EU and AZ is expected to be held in a Belgian court.

According to EU officials, the main purpose of this lawsuit is to pressure AZ to supply the contracted vaccine quantities to the EU.

Earlier, AZ had contracted to supply 100 million doses of vaccines to the EU by the first quarter of this year but delivered only 30 million doses. AZ initially agreed to supply a total of 300 million doses to the EU by the second quarter, but it is now expected to deliver only one-third of that amount, 100 million doses.

Due to AZ's delayed vaccine supply, the EU's vaccination progress has been slow. As of the 24th, the EU's vaccination rate stood at 21.25%, less than half of the UK's 49.59%. While the EU's vaccination rate has been slow due to delayed vaccine shipments, the UK's vaccination rate has rapidly increased, expanding the conflict between the EU and AZ into a dispute involving the UK as well.

The EU suspects that AZ attempted to export additional vaccines from its UK factory to speed up vaccine supply to the EU, but the UK government blocked this. Consequently, the EU is reportedly considering measures to block the export of vaccines produced at AZ's factory in the Netherlands to the UK.

European Union (EU) Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is giving a speech on the 23rd (local time) during her visit to Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine factory in Puurs, Belgium. Puurs (Belgium) = Photo by AP

To compensate for the insufficient vaccine supply, the EU signed an additional contract with Pfizer on the 23rd to receive a total of 1.8 billion doses. This is the world's largest single vaccine supply contract, interpreted as a move to secure a large volume of vaccines in advance to prevent supply delays like those experienced with AZ.

With confidence gained from this contract, the EU is reportedly pressuring AZ by indicating the possibility of not signing additional contracts with AZ in the second half of this year. Earlier, Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for Internal Market, appeared on French television on the 18th and said that the vaccine contract with AZ ends on June 30 and that there might be no additional contracts.

Experts explain that the key issue in this lawsuit is to prove whether AZ's supply delays could have been prevented in advance. There are also claims that the EU signed the vaccine supply contract with AZ several months later than the UK, which may have left AZ with insufficient preparation time to secure vaccine quantities.

Geert Van Calster, a law professor at Leuven University, said, "The EU is likely hoping that the court will judge that AZ did not take appropriate measures to supply additional vaccines," adding, "If the EU wins, AZ may have to deliver some vaccine doses to the EU."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.