EU publishes COVID-19 vaccine contract with AstraZeneca, calls for 'transparency'

The updated contracted between the European Union and AstraZeneca has been published on January 29 after incorporating the renewed request of January 27 to the August 27 deal.  Earlier, the European Union (EU) chief Ursula von der Leyen had informed that Brussels will publish the redacted copy of its agreement with British-Swedish drugmaker on Friday.

While talking to German broadcaster Deutschlandfunk, European Commission president said, “We want to publish it today. We are talking to the company about which parts have to be blacked out. AstraZeneca has warned the 27-nation-bloc that there will be delays in the delivery of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed with Oxford University which according to von der Leyen defies the “crystal clear” commitment. However, now EU calls for "transparency and accountability" from the company. 

EU said in a statement, "The Commission welcomes the company's commitment towards more transparency in its participation in the rollout of the EU Vaccines Strategy."

"Transparency and accountability are important to help build the trust of European citizens and to make sure that they can rely on the effectiveness and safety of the vaccines purchased at the EU level. The Commission hopes to be able to publish all contracts under the Advance Purchase Agreements in the near future," it added.

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot has cited production glitches in company’s plants operated by the subcontractors in the European Union. He even said that the company’s deal with the EU only mentioned for it to make “best efforts” to hit the targets. However, von der Leyen has been building on increasingly angry comments from the EU officials this week and has insisted that the firm maintains its commitment to the fixed number of vaccines per quarter this year. 

"The 'best effort' applies as long as it was not clear whether they could develop a vaccine. We have passed that time. The vaccine is there," she had said before adding, "There are very clear delivery quantities, both for December of last year and for the coming quarters. These are in the contract.”

Read - 40,000 Russian Vaccine Doses Land In Belgrade

Read - Laboratory Trials Of The Novavax Vaccine In The UK

EU Warns Of Blocking COVID-19 Vaccine Export

Amid the chaos, the European Union (EU) has previously also threatened to block the export of COVID-19 vaccines to third-world countries outside the 27-nation-bloc such as Britain. The British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca was accused of failing to give a satisfactory explanation for a huge shortfall of promised doses to member states. As per reports, AstraZeneca’s new distribution plans for EU were deemed “unacceptable” after it “surprisingly” informed the European Commission on January 22 about significant shortfalls on the original schedule of deliveries. 

While the EU was due to receive at least 100 million doses in the first quarter of 2021. It is feared that the member states will only receive half of that despite the large advance purchases. Therefore, facing criticism of a slow rollout in the EU, the European Commission threatened to impose controls on vaccines that would affect Belgium-manufactured Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. 

Read - Germany Expects EMA To Approve Astrazeneca Vaccine

Read - Serum Institute Seeks Permit To Conduct Bridging Trial Of Novavax COVID Vaccine In India