Reason behind EU’s AstraZeneca vaccine problems revealed

AstraZeneca's struggle to ramp up vaccine supplies to the EU is partly because of the failure of one of the company's key European manufacturing sites to deliver any doses to the bloc six months after the supply contract was agreed, Report informs, citing the Financial Times.

The Halix factory in the Netherlands' Leiden Bio Science Park is one of two facilities — along with the Belgian plant at Seneffe — named as main sources of so-called vaccine drug substance in AstraZeneca's contract with the commission. Pascal Soriot, the company's chief executive, earlier explained in an interview with European newspapers that the vaccine drug substance is produced in Belgium and the Netherlands and then finished and packaged into vials at plants in Germany and Italy.

The plant in the Netherlands, operated by subcontractor Halix, is expected to produce at least 5 million doses a month and supply them to the EU.

However, as the Financial Times notes, although the vaccine production is underway, the plant has not yet received supply permission from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). According to the Financial Times sources, AstraZeneca has not yet provided the regulator with all the necessary data to obtain the permit.

A spokesman for AstraZeneca said: "The approval of the site with the EMA remains on track with our original plans, and we can confirm that it forms part of our delivery plans."

The EU has approved the usage of the vaccines from Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson. However, the vaccination campaign is not going smoothly in the bloc. Notably, there have been and are interruptions in the supply of some drugs. AstraZeneca on Saturday confirmed reports of new delays in the vaccine supply to the European Union. Pfizer / BioNTech also reported short deliveries a few weeks ago.

Besides, as a precautionary measure, the Austrian authorities had previously decided to suspend the AstraZeneca vaccine's use due to one vaccinated woman's death and the illness of another after receiving the jab. Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, and Denmark followed suit.