* Export exports could hamper AstraZeneca’s plans to close supply gap in EU
* EU-US vaccine talks continue – officially
* The EU seeks to ‘complicate’ Astra shots from India
BRUSSELS, March 11 (Reuters) – Washington has told the European Union that it does not expect to receive AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines manufactured in the United States soon, two EU sources said on Thursday in a new blow for the stock of the block. .
The U.S. message could complicate vaccination plans in the 27-nation bloc, which has been struggling with delays in vaccine delivery since January.
“The US has told us that there is no way to send AstraZeneca vaccines to the EU,” said a senior official who was directly involved in the EU-US talks.
AstraZeneca told the EU earlier this year that it would reduce its inventory by at least half to less than 90 million doses in the second quarter, EU sources told Reuters, after a larger decline in the first three months of the year .
Later, however, AstraZeneca offered to partially fill the gap with vaccines produced outside Europe, including in the United States.
A senior EU diplomat said that at a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, the European Commission told Member States’ diplomats that the bloc could not currently expect exports from the United States.
“The situation is basically that any export is difficult, but there is willingness to talk,” the diplomat said.
AstraZeneca declined to comment and the White House did not immediately comment.
It is not known what is behind the possible move for exports. It is unclear whether AstraZeneca produces much of the vaccine in the US and whether the US will apply a restrictive measure to trade. The AstraZeneca vaccine has not yet been approved for use in the United States.
The move comes after Austria stopped using a number of AstraZeneca shots while investigating deaths due to coagulation disorders and a disease due to pulmonary embolism.
Asked about vaccine talks with the United States, European Commission spokesman Eric Mamer said on Thursday: “Whatever the legal situation in the United States, we want to work with the United States to keep supply chains open. . “
“We are not going to give a blow-by-blow report of the talks being held with our US partners.”
But the EU’s executive did not respond to specific questions about a possible move to exports from the United States.
The US stance could jeopardize AstraZeneca’s efforts in the second quarter to jeopardize deliveries closer to its 180 million dose contractual obligation with the EU.
U.S. President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the U.S. government will first give COVID-19 vaccines to Americans, but any surplus will be shared with the world.
AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccines are manufactured in the United States at a plant near Baltimore run by Catalent. It is listed in the EU supply contract with AstraZeneca as a ‘backup supply site’ and has been approved by the EU Drug Regulator as a manufacturer of vaccine ingredients.
The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, called Biden last week, which was followed this week by a meeting between EU Commissioner for Industry Thierry Breton and White House COVID-19 coordinator , Jeffrey Zients.
Vaccines were discussed in both talks, according to EU statements issued afterwards.
EU officials said talks with the US on vaccines were continuing, with new calls expected this week.
In the
AstraZeneca has also told the EU that it can supply extra doses to the EU from India, where the vaccines are manufactured by the Serum Institute.
EU drug regulators are currently reviewing Serum’s manufacturing site, Reuters reported exclusively earlier in March.
But another EU official said on Thursday that the audit process was “complicated” because the site and the substances used to produce vaccines had to be approved.
The USA is also part of the production network for Johnson & Johnson vaccines that will be used in the EU, because under the EU-J & J contract shots made in the Netherlands, bottling must take place in the USA.
The sources made no reference to potential US barriers to sending J&J vaccines to the EU, but several European diplomats said they were concerned about the production of J&J.
Reuters exclusively reported on Tuesday that J&J had told the EU that it was facing issues that could hamper plans to deliver 55 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in the second quarter of the year.
J&J plans to start delivering to the EU in April. Its vaccination was recommended by the European drug regulator for use in the EU earlier on Thursday.
In a separate development, health authorities in Denmark, Norway and Iceland said they had suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine shots following reports of blood clots forming in some vaccinated people.
AstraZeneca said in a written statement to Reuters on Thursday that the safety of the vaccine had been extensively studied in human trials, and peer-reviewed data confirmed that the vaccine was generally well tolerated.
Reported by Francesco Guarascio @fruuarascio and John Chalmers; additional reporting by Ludwig Burger in Frankfurt and Nandita Bose in Washington; Edited by Nick Macfie