In Response To Britain, EU Refuses To Send AstraZeneca's COVID-19 Vaccine From A Factory In Netherlands

AstraZeneca Vaccine. (Wikimedia Commons/gencat cat)

JAKARTA - The European Union has rejected the request of the British Government to send the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine produced by a factory in the Netherlands, Sunday, March 21 local time.

It is known, the UK currently has given proportionally more COVID-19 vaccines to its citizens, compared to European Union countries.

"The British insisted that the Halix factory in the Netherlands should send them a medicinal vaccine produced there. It did not work," the official told Reuters.

The Leiden-based plant, run by sub-contractor Halix, is registered as a vaccine supplier under the contracts AstraZeneca has signed with the UK and the European Union.

"What is produced at Halix must be submitted to the European Union," the official added.

However, the UK insists that the contract must be honored with regard to fulfilling the contract for AstraZeneca vaccine delivery from the factory to the UK.

“The European Commission will know that the whole world is looking at the Commission about how the Commission behaves in this regard. If the contract and its performance break down, it is for a trading block that prides itself on the rule of law," British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told Sky News.

EU officials said they had not breached any contracts. Earlier, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen threatened to block the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine to the UK, to protect against vaccine shortages in the European Union.

In addition, the statement issued last Wednesday was related to the worsening epidemiological situation in a number of European countries.

Halik's AstraZeneca vaccine has not received approval from the European Union. If there is no approval, the vaccine cannot be used. Internal AstraZeneca documents seen by Reuters show that the company expects EU approval by March 25. AstraZeneca declined to comment on the number of vaccines currently stored at Halix.

European Union officials said the factory had produced a vaccine, but could not calculate the results. Under the EU contract with AstraZeneca, vaccines must be produced before approval and shipped shortly thereafter.

It is known that two factories in the UK, which are run by Oxford Biomedica and Cobra Biologics, are also registered as suppliers to the European Union under a contract with AstraZeneca. So far, however, no vaccine has been shipped from the UK to the EU, despite previous requests from Brussels.

Officials said Cobra was not fully operational. AstraZeneca told EU officials that Britain was using a clause in its supply contract that prevents exports of its vaccines until the UK market is fully served.