Soriot also told the newspaper that countries as the UK was quicker than the European Union to complete their orders, meaning the drugmaker was unable to give the block an iron-clad commitment to its delivery plan. The ‘lead’ also gave AstraZeneca’s operations in the UK more time to solve supply chain problems now affected by EU deliveries, the chief executive said.
“We also had problems like this in the UK supply chain. But the UK contract was signed three months before the European vaccine agreement. So, with the UK, we had an extra three months to rectify all the mistakes we were experiencing. “As far as Europe is concerned, we are three months behind in solving the mistakes,” he said.
EU officials are now threatening to tighten controls on vaccine exports, and Italy has warned it could take legal action. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, told the pharmaceutical companies about the heat and said the bloc ‘means business’.
“Europe has invested billions to help develop the first Covid-19 vaccines in the world, to create a real global common benefit. And now the companies have to do it. They have to meet their obligations,” she said during a virtual meeting of the World Economic Forum said.
Tooth issues issues
Soriot set out his defense in the interview with la Repubblica and other major European newspapers.
“Would I like to do better? Of course. But you know, if we deliver what we plan to deliver in February, it’s not a small volume,” Soriot said. “We plan to deliver millions of doses in Europe, it is not small.”
The European Union has ordered 300 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which can be approved as early as this week, with the option to buy an extra 100 million. AstraZeneca said in a statement on Wednesday that it would deliver ‘tens of millions of doses’ in February and March once the vaccine was approved for use in the European Union.
But in his interview with La Repubblica, Soriot also outlined important differences in the agreements the company has with the UK and the European Union.
“The contract with the UK was signed first and of course the UK said ‘you provide us first’, and that’s fair enough,” he said. Three months later, when the European Union wanted to supply ‘more or less at the same time’ as the United Kingdom, AstraZeneca could not commit to it.
‘Our contract [with the European Union] is not a contractual commitment. This is a best effort. Actually, we said we were going to try our best, but we can not guarantee that we will succeed. ‘When we get there, we’re a little slow,’ he said.
AstraZeneca said in a statement that it has built more than a dozen local supply chains to manufacture its vaccine, along with more than 20 partners in more than 15 countries.
“Each supply chain has been developed with input and investment from specific countries or international organizations based on the supply agreements, including our agreement with the European Commission,” the company said.
“Since each supply chain is designed to meet the needs of a specific agreement, the vaccine produced from any supply chain is dedicated to the countries or regions concerned and is used in local manufacturing where possible.”
Political firestorm
But European governments are demanding answers about delays, pointing out that the success of their vaccination efforts depends on the private sector.
“On the one hand, we can only welcome the result of science, and on the other hand, they have a monopoly and we are completely dependent,” Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said on Saturday. “There may be production issues, but these uncertainties and announcements make it very difficult to organize the campaign.”
EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said on Monday that the bloc would now demand “full transparency regarding the export of vaccines” from the European Union.
“In the future, all companies that manufacture vaccines against Covid-19 in the EU will have to give early notice when they want to export vaccinations to third countries. Of course, humanitarian deliveries will not be affected by this,” she said on Twitter.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn said the controls were not about putting the “EU first” but about making sure Europe got its fair share.
“In my opinion, it makes sense that we have an export limit, which means that vaccines leaving the European Union have a license, so that we know what is being produced, what is leaving Europe, where it is leaving so that there is a fair distribution, He told German broadcaster ZDF.
Soriot said he understands the frustration.
“Governments are under pressure. Everyone is getting a little, you know, worse or emotional about things. But I understand because the Commission is running the process for the whole of Europe,” the chief executive said.
“As soon as we can, we will help the EU,” he added.
The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Soriot’s interview.
– Saskya Vandoorne reported.