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The European Union lawsuit against AstraZeneca, the British-Swedish pharmaceutical group and developer of the world’s most used COVID-19 vaccine began to be heard by a Brussels court on Wednesday under an emergency procedure.
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The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, accuses AstraZeneca
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of failing to abide by its contract to deliver 300 million vaccine doses by the end of June, and alleges the company has no credible plan to deal with the shortages and delays that have affected its operations. - AstraZeneca only delivered 30 million of the 120 million promised in the first quarter. It says that its only legal constraint was to make its “best efforts” to deliver the doses, and that it is under no obligation to deliver to the EU doses manufactured in the rest of the world.
- The bitter row has played a part in the delay of vaccination campaigns in the EU, where only 8% of the total population now is fully vaccinated, vs 29% in the U.S. and 19% in the U.K.
- Wednesday’s one-hour hearing will be followed by two similar sessions on May 26, with the judge expecting to be able to issue a ruling by the end of June.
