Berlin: The European Union’s executive is pressuring pharmaceutical companies to accelerate vaccine supply to the continent as cases of infection increase in several member states. The European Commission said on Saturday that AstraZeneca, in particular, could face export restrictions (BAN) to countries outside the European Union if it did not quickly supply the number of vaccines to a group of 27 countries whose he promised.
“We can ban planned exports,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday. “This is a message for AstraZeneca: You deliver the promised vaccine consignment to Europe before you start supplying to other countries,” he said in an interview with the German media group Phunke.
Von der Leyen stated that the contract between the European Union and AstraZeneca clearly governs how many doses of AstraZeneca vaccine will be received inside the European Union and in the UK. He said the commission had sent a “formal memorandum” to AstraZeneca about the issue.
