THE European Union (EU) could prevent more vaccine deliveries from being shipped overseas, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, as the bloc struggles to ensure enough shots for its troubled immunization drive.
The Anglo-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca is still failing to meet the bloc’s delivery targets, Von der Leyen told the Wirtschaftswoche business magazine on Monday.
The firm has only “delivered less than 10% of the amount ordered by the EU for the period from December to March,” she said.
The European Union had expected to receive 100 million vaccines from the company by now, meaning there is a shortfall of about 90 million doses.
Von der Leyen’s comments come after Italy asked the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, to block 250,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from being shipped to Australia last week.
Von der Leyen said officials could use these powers again to keep jabs in the bloc.
”That
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