EU ends litigation with AstraZeneca

The Commission announced that they have reached an agreement with the British drug maker to secure the delivery of the remaining 200 COVID-19 vaccine doses to its member states as agreed to a year ago. According to the settlement, AstraZeneca is committed to delivering 60 million vaccine doses by the end of the third quarter, 75 million doses by the end of the fourth quarter and 65 million more doses by the end of the first quarter of 2022.

In April, the Commission had taken legal action against AstraZeneca after the company failed to deliver as agreed in the contract.

Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, said: “While this week we reached the important milestone of 70% full vaccination of the EU’s adult population, there are significant differences in vaccination rates between our member states, and the continued availability of vaccines, including AstraZeneca’s, remain crucial. And as the strongest supporter of global vaccine cooperation and solidarity, we will continue helping the rest of the world. Our aim is to share at least 200 million doses of vaccines through COVAX with low and middleincome countries until the end of this year. Vaccine solidarity is and remains our trademark.”