AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot has rejected the suspicion that the company deliver actually, for the EU, certain doses of the vaccine to other countries. AstraZeneca to sell the vaccine “not elsewhere for Profit,” said Soriot in a Tuesday evening Interview published with a group of European Newspapers, to which the German sheet “The world”.
AstraZeneca have developed his vaccine, a non-profit, “we make no money”, – said the head of the company. He added: “I think we treat Europe really fair.”
In the EU-Commission, there is the suspicion, bottlenecks in the supply of the European Union with the AstraZeneca vaccine could be due to the fact that the British-Swedish manufacturer the UK and other Non-EU supplying countries with full quantities of the vaccine.
AstraZeneca had not been able to explain in two Meetings with the EU Commission and the member States on Monday in Brussels, according to enough, as it came to the supply bottlenecks. According to the Commission, a further Meeting with the company is for this Wednesday, recognised.
Soriot stressed that AstraZeneca had closed its contract with the UK three months earlier than with the EU. Also in the case of the UK was that there had been “teething problems”. There had been but three months more time to fix these problems. In the EU, AstraZeneca was two months behind the original Plan.
“But the Treaty with the British was concluded three months before the with Brussels. We had three months more time to fix glitches.” His company was not contractually obliged to supply certain quantities of vaccine. Brussels wanted to be supplied according to his words, more or less at the same time as the British – even though these three months would have signed earlier. “That is why we have agreed to try it, but not contractually obligated.”
Background the announcement by the pharmaceutical company, to deliver to the for this week’s expected approval for the first time less vaccine than agreed. Instead of 80 million doses of the vaccine, according to EU data up until the end of March to arrive, only 31 million. The specified basic problems in the delivery chain wants to let the EU do not apply. It calls for observance of the Treaty. The EU Commission has charged representatives of the Anglo-Swedish group this Wednesday for a crisis meeting with experts from the EU member States.
Soriot back has a low efficacy in the elderly
Reports in the German media, the effectiveness of AstraZeneca’s vaccine is in the elderly only, low, rejected Soriot. The “Handelsblatt” reported, the vaccine would only be expected with a potency of eight percent in the over 65-Year-old. Soriot called this number wrong: “How can you accept that AAS allow around the globe, in the middle, with only eight percent effectiveness?”
Also, the Federal Ministry of health had denied on Tuesday the reports of a lower efficacy of the AstraZeneca drug in the elderly. It spoke of a possible confusion of Numbers. From the above data, there is no small efficacy in the Elderly, to derive, to leave the Ministry stated. Known but “since the autumn of that in the first studies submitted by AstraZeneca less Older were involved in the studies of other manufacturers”.
The AstraZeneca-vaccine is not yet approved in the EU. A decision of the European medicines Agency EMA approval, the product is expected for Friday.
