m.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/unternehmen/astra-zeneca-will-mehr-corona-impfstoff-liefern-17169846.html
As the FAZ learned from EU circles, Astra Zeneca boss Pascal Soriot agreed in a video conference with representatives of the member states on Wednesday evening that the supply contract from both sides should be published. Astra-Zeneca's in-house lawyers are currently working on a proposal as to which sensitive parts of the contract should be blacked out. These proposals should then be coordinated with the EU Commission. The aim is to publish this Friday, it was said in Brussels.
According to an EU representative, in the two-and-a-half-hour conversation, Soriot no longer insisted on the statement he made in an interview that the contract did not contain any quantified and dated information about the manufacturer's delivery obligations for the EU. Soriot did not repeat that Astra-Zeneca only committed itself in the contract to the "best possible" production, but not to specific delivery quantities. Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides called this statement "neither true nor acceptable". In the conversation, the implicit assertion that the EU could contractually be supplied later than other states with which Astra-Zeneca had concluded a contract at an earlier point in time, it said. Soriot also did not repeat other “legal adventures”. Kyriakides had emphasized that the contract contained exact delivery quantities for each quarter.
During the conversation, the CEO was clearly trying to defuse the confrontation that had arisen because of his interview. Unlike initially planned, he represented the company personally and did not send any representatives. "The EU understood this signal, especially since he switched on from Australia, where it was four in the morning," it said.
On the matter, Soriot had promised that his company would deliver more vaccine doses to the EU in February than recently announced. Originally there was a volume of 80 million cans in the room for the first quarter, at the weekend the company reduced the amount to 31 million. “It is not likely that we will still get to 80 million. But it should be significantly more than 31 ”, it said. The CDU MEP Peter Liese reported that the company will deliver three batches in February, starting a week after the approval scheduled for this Friday. In the manufacturer's announcement over the weekend, there was only one delivery in February, which was planned two weeks after approval.
Where the additional deliveries should come from, of course, remained open. The sharp EU criticism of the company was sparked not least by the fact that the UK was apparently supposed to receive the same amount of supplies despite the production problems mentioned. British Minister of State Michael Gove indicated that his government could lend the EU a hand. "We will speak to our friends in Europe and see how we can help," Gove said on UK TV. However, your own vaccination program should not be jeopardized.
The EU Commission does not want to speak to London directly at the moment. In the conflict with the manufacturer, however, it is not about getting justice at some point in court. "We need the vaccine now, and so we are not interested in an escalation," it said. A lawsuit would lead "all sides to misery".
Also it appears that Pfizer/BioNTech are going to be able to open a new production facility in the next couple of months. And the production issues at existing factories look like they wont be as bad as feared. The BioNTech plant was supposed to be shut for a month. They've actually managed to do it in a week and its already back online and up and running which is good news for everyone.
It does not sound like the UK are being negatively impacted from that - unless there are efforts to keep it quiet.