EU reportedly preparing legal case against AstraZeneca over vaccine shortfalls

EU preparing legal case against AstraZeneca over vaccine shortfalls The European Commission is getting ready to launch legal proceedings against vaccine producer AstraZeneca, according to six EU diplomats.  The Commission raised the matter at a meeti… POLITICO

The European Commission is getting ready to launch legal proceedings against vaccine producer AstraZeneca, according to six EU diplomats.

The Commission raised the matter at a meeting of EU ambassadors Wednesday, during which the majority of EU countries said they would support suing the company on the grounds that it massively under-delivered pledged coronavirus vaccine doses to the bloc.

However, five to six countries, including large states like Germany and France, raised concerns about launching a lawsuit against AstraZeneca, according to several diplomats. One of the concerns, as one diplomat explained, is that a lawsuit wouldn't guarantee that the EU got more doses. ...

AstraZeneca stoked the ire of the EU in January when it admitted it couldn't ship to the bloc the number of doses initially anticipated. By the end of the first quarter, the company delivered just 30 million doses to EU countries, rather than the 100 million doses pledged in its EU contract. The shortages severely hampered vaccination campaigns across EU countries....