The vaccine producer AstraZeneca must “catch up” on its promised deliveries to the EU before exporting doses elsewhere, said the bloc’s chief.
“The company… has to honour the contract it has with member states,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday evening.
She spoke after EU leaders held a summit to discuss vaccine supplies.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said this marked “the end of naivety” from the EU.
Vaccine rollouts in European Union states have started sluggishly, and the bloc has blamed pharmaceutical companies – primarily AstraZeneca – for not delivering promised doses. AstraZeneca has denied that it is failing to honour its contract.
“I think it is clear that first of all the company has to catch up,” von der Leyen told a news conference after the virtual leaders summit.
“[It] has to honour the contract it has with European member states before it can engage again in exporting vaccines,” she said. “We want to explain to our European citizens that they [can] get their fair share.”
