EU and AZ Reach Agreement on COVID-19 Vaccine Supply Dispute

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The European Union (EU) Commission and multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (AZ) have reached an agreement over the dispute concerning the supply of COVID-19 vaccines.

On the 3rd (local time), the EU Commission announced that it had agreed with AZ on the remaining deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines under their contract. Under this agreement, AZ will deliver 60 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the third quarter of this year, 75 million doses by the fourth quarter, and the remaining 65 million doses by the end of the first quarter of next year.

With this, the total 300 million doses agreed upon in the contract between the two parties will be fully supplied.

Accordingly, the lawsuit underway at the Brussels court is expected to be concluded. Previously, the EU Commission filed a lawsuit at the Brussels court, claiming that AstraZeneca did not comply with the COVID-19 vaccine supply contract.

In June, the court ruled that AstraZeneca had violated the contract with the EU Commission and ordered the delivery of 50 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to the EU by the end of September. The court also stated that if the deadline was not met, a fine of 10 euros per undelivered dose would be imposed.

Stella Kyriakides, the EU Commissioner for Health, said, "Today's agreement will ensure the delivery of the remaining 200 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses to the EU," adding, "We have reached the milestone of vaccinating 70% of the adult population in the EU, but there are significant differences in vaccination rates among member states, and it is very important to continue securing vaccines."

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