This was announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a press conference in Brussels. In the first quarter, it was on just 30 million vaccines. Contractually there were supposed to be 90 million, later after much controversy it was revised down to 40 million, but the struggling pharmaceutical company didn’t reach that number either.
Von der Leyen is pleased with the performance of Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna. These pharmaceutical companies keep their promises with 66 million and 10 million deliveries in the first three months of the year. In the second quarter, Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) will also provide 55 million vaccines, which is good news because only one dose of this approved vaccine is now needed.
Since the European Union created the so-called export mechanism after the dispute with AstraZeneca, in which companies must decide what to export, 41 million doses have been sent to a total of 33 countries in six weeks. Only one shipment of 314 was discontinued.
Von der Leyen emphatically keeps all options on the table to tighten the rules. The UK is the main recipient of vaccines from the European Union with 10 million doses. The President of the German Commission notes that the EU contract with AstraZeneca stipulates that the British AZ manufacturers can also produce for the European Union. According to her, there should be reciprocity.
She will discuss the matter with European leaders at the European Union summit scheduled for March 25-26.
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