Covid: AstraZeneca says EU loses legal bid for more vaccine supplies by end of June
Judge orders delivery of 80 million doses by September after bloc pushed for 120 million by end of June
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Your support makes all the difference.AstraZeneca has claimed the European Union has lost a legal case against the pharmaceutical firm over the supply of Covid-19 vaccines.
The Anglo-Swedish firm committed in a contract to do its best to deliver 300 million doses of its coronavirus jab to the to the 27-nation bloc by the end of June.
However, production problems led the pharmaceutical company to revise down its target to 100 million vaccines.
The cuts in the supplies delayed the EU's vaccination drive in the first quarter of the year, when the bloc had initially relied on AstraZeneca to deliver the largest volume of jabs.
That led to a bitter dispute and to the EU’s legal action to get at least 120 million doses by the end of June.
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But a judge in Brussels on Friday ordered delivery of 80.2 million doses by 27 September 2021, according to AstraZeneca.
The company said in a statement: “The judgement also acknowledged that the difficulties experienced by AstraZeneca in this unprecedented situation had a substantial impact on the delay.
“AstraZeneca now looks forward to renewed collaboration with the European Commission to help combat the pandemic in Europe.”
Additional reporting by agencies
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