Answer given by Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

20.9.2021

Through the EU Strategy for COVID-19 vaccines[1], the Commission has secured access for Member States to COVID-19 vaccines as soon as they become available.

The Commission has concluded advance purchase agreements (APAs) with six vaccine manufacturers for up to 4.4 billion doses and negotiations are advances with additional companies to secure more doses and diversify the vaccines portfolio.

The APAs contain binding orders concerning both the number of vaccine doses to be delivered and the timing of deliveries. What matters is that the six companies fulfil their legal obligations.

Deliveries across Member States have been increasing and the Commission is doing everything in its power to support the roll-out of vaccines in the European Union, including by increasing the availability of vaccines in the coming weeks and months.

BioNTech-Pfizer has largely respected its contractual commitments and has brought forward the delivery of 60 million additional doses to the second quarter, increasing the total number of doses to be delivered in this quarter to 250 million.

The Commission acknowledges that unfortunately there have been problems with vaccines’ delivery by AstraZeneca, but has taken extraordinary measures to improve the situation.

Th e Commission has decided to bring legal proceedings against AstraZeneca for breach of the APA concluded with the company on 27 August 2020 for the supply of 300 million COVID-19 vaccines by the end of the second quarter of 2021.

The Commission is acting on its own behalf and on behalf of the 27 Member States, which fully aligned in support of the Commission on the need to ensure timely and effective implementation of the APA concluded with AstraZeneca.

• [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52020DC0245&from=EN