New warning on vaccine supplies sparks EU concern

A warning from AstraZeneca that initial supplies of its COVID vaccinations to Europe will be lower than expected has sparked fresh concern over the rollout of inoculations, forcing some countries to plan for a sharp drop in deliveries.

Jan. 22's announcement by the British pharmaceutical firm followed another last week by Pfizer, which said it would delay shipments of its vaccine for up to a month due to works at its key plant in Belgium.

The companies' warnings come amid deepening concern over new COVID-19 variants, particularly one that emerged in Britain and which is believed to be more infectious than the original strain.

Overall, Europe has now recorded more than 692,000 deaths and nearly 32 million infections.

The European Union has so far approved vaccines from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech as well as from U.S. company Moderna. It has not yet approved the vaccine from AstraZeneca and its partner the University of Oxford, but is expected to make a decision by January 29.

AstraZeneca said in its statement that if EU approval was granted, the "initial volumes will be lower than anticipated", although the start would not be delayed.

The company blamed "reduced yields at a manufacturing site within our European supply chain".
It would in any case supply the EU with "millions of doses" while ramping up production in February and March, it added.

The announcement led to "deep dissatisfaction" from EU member states, which "insisted on a precise delivery schedule", said European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides.

Austrian Health Minister Rudolf Anschober called it "very, very bad news" and said his country would receive in February only slightly more than half the 650,000 AstraZeneca doses...