AstraZeneca describes ‘positive’ meeting with EU amid vaccine turmoil

AstraZeneca said it had a positive meeting with the European Commission after it was reported that the company had not replied letter of complaint from the European Union within 20 days.

Reuters reports that the Anglo-Swedish company shared the assessment after the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported the company had not replied to a complaint letter sent by the EU on March 19 over low-contract supplies of COVID-19 vaccines.

The complaint has to do with a contract between AstraZeneca and the EU that sought to ensure that 120 million doses are received by member nations by the end of March. Only 30.1 million doses have been received so far.

“We can confirm we have responded to the Commission within the required time-frame of the dispute resolution mechanism, and that our team had a very collaborative meeting with the Commission last week,” Matthew Kent, AstraZeneca’s Director of Global Media Relations, said in an email, according to Reuters.

“At this stage we are still waiting for the necessary elements … we remain in contact with AstraZeneca to ensure timely delivery of a sufficient number of doses,” a European Commission told Reuters on Sunday.

The terms of the contract state that if a dispute arises between the two parties then one must first notify the other with a letter. After 20 days the parties “shall meet and attempt to resolve the dispute by good faith negotiations,” Reuters reports.

AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine has faced intense scrutiny in multiple countries, largely in the EU, over concerns that it is linked to blood clots.

Last week it was reported that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had found a “possible link” between the AstraZeneca shot and blood clots. The EMA concluded that unusual blood clots with low blood platelets should be listed as a rare side effect of the medicine.