The European Commission is preparing to take legal action against AstraZeneca Plc over the company’s failure to deliver the promised number of vaccine doses to the bloc, according to sources from five European Union (EU) diplomats.
The commission raised the matter at an ambassadorial meeting on Wednesday, at which a majority of EU countries said they would support dragging the company to court.
A diplomat explained that the purpose of the legal proceedings was to oblige AstraZeneca to provide the dosage stipulated in a previously signed contract.
A deadline for member states to agree to legal proceedings has been set for the end of this week.
AstraZeneca had sparked EU outrage in January, after it said it could not deliver the promised dose amount due to supply problems.
By the end of the first quarter, the company had only delivered 30 million doses to EU countries out of the 100 million doses promised. This has led to delays in vaccination campaigns across EU countries.
The company forecasts to deliver about 70 million doses by the end of the second quarter of this year, compared to the 300 million doses that should have been delivered as outlined in the EU contract.
