Commission announces lawsuit against AstraZeneca for vaccine shortages

The European Commission confirmed it began legal proceedings against AstraZeneca for its vaccine-delivery shortages.

“Indeed the Commission has started last Friday a legal action against the company AstraZeneca on the [basis] of breaches of the advanced purchase agreement,” Commission spokesperson Stefan De Keersmaeker announced Monday.

“The reason indeed being the terms of the contract, or some terms of the contract, have not been respected, and the company has not been in a position to come up with a reliable strategy to ensure the timely delivery of doses,” De Keersmaeker explained. “What matters is to us in this case is that we want to make sure that there is a speedy delivery of sufficient number of doses that the European citizens are entitled to and which have been promised on the basis of the contract.”

Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides shortly after tweeted that the Commission’s “priority is to ensure #COVID19 vaccine deliveries take place to protect the health of [the EU]. This is why @EU_Commission has decided jointly with all Member States to bring legal proceedings against #AstraZeneca. Every vaccine dose counts. Every vaccine dose saves lives.”

AstraZeneca’s contract promised to provide 300 million doses to the EU by the end of June, but now it looks likely to only deliver a third of that. By the end of March, the company had sent 30 million doses to the EU, and the company expects to deliver another 70 million by the end of June.

Some EU countries had reservations over whether a lawsuit would further damage AstraZeneca’s reputation in the bloc or whether the lawsuit, first reported by POLITICO, would even help the EU get more doses. However, all countries backed the lawsuit by Friday morning, according to several diplomats.

This article is part of POLITICO’s premium policy service: Pro Health Care. From drug pricing, EMA, vaccines, pharma and more, our specialized journalists keep you on top of the topics driving the health care policy agenda. Email [email protected] for a complimentary trial.