AstraZeneca Agrees To Add 9 Million Doses Of Vaccine For The European Union

AstraZeneca Vaccine (Source: Wikimedia Commons / Agencia Brasilia)

JAKARTA - The European Union, through the European Commission, has confirmed that the COVID-19 vaccine producer AstraZeneca will supply millions of additional doses of vaccine. Certainty was obtained amid disputes between the European Union and vaccine manufacturers regarding the amount of vaccine supply being given.

"AstraZeneca will supply the European Union with an additional nine million doses of the coronavirus vaccine," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Sunday local time, told Reuters.

With this agreement, the European Union will receive 40 million doses of vaccine in the first curve in 20201. However, this is still half of the total 80 million doses of vaccine originally agreed upon.

Von der Leyen also said that AstraZeneca would expand production capacity in Europe, after the last week there was a dispute between the European Union and AstraZeneca.

"This is a step forward in the vaccine (problem)," added Von der Leyen.

The announcement of this additional dose was made, after he met with representatives of six pharmaceutical companies via video conference on Sunday, January 21 local time.

Earlier, the European Union accused AstraZeneca of breaching the contract by not meeting the promised dose of the vaccine. In fact, they threatened to take legal action if necessary.

The European Union agreement with AstraZeneca was signed in August 2020. Last Friday, the European Union authorized the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. This vaccine is given in two doses, developed by the University of Oxford, UK.