|
 She did not elaborate on which tools would be used, but the head of
the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen has threatened a tightening
of export controls on drugmakers that fail to comply with their
supply contracts with the EU.
AstraZeneca said earlier in March it would aim to deliver to the
European Union 100 million vaccines by the end of June, three times
fewer than it had committed to in the contract with the EU.
"We intend to take action," Gallina told EU lawmakers, adding that
the EU will use "all the tools at our disposal to get the (AstraZeneca)
doses".
[to top of second column] |
 "It's a shame, it's
reputational damage," Gallina said and noted
that only one of the five vaccine-production
plants listed in the EU contract with
AstraZeneca was delivering vaccines to the EU.
The contract lists two factories in Britain, one
in the Netherlands, one in Belgium. Another one
in the United States is listed as a back-up
supplier. Currently, only the plant in Belgium,
run by Thermo Fisher Scientific, is producing
shots for the EU.
The Commission has also started a procedure
foreseen under the contract with AstraZeneca
that could lead to legal action against the
company.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio;
editing by Barbara Lewis)
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