BRUSSELS, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The European Commission will
continue discussions with AstraZeneca with the purpose
of receiving more doses of its COVID-19 vaccine than the company
has so far pledged in the first quarter of the year, a spokesman
said on Monday.
On Sunday, the Commission president Ursula von der Leyen
said AstraZeneca had raised its target of supplies to the EU to
40 million doses from 31 million until the end of March, after a
large cut last week.
Its original commitment was of at least 80 million doses,
and possibly up to 120 million in the first quarter, EU sources
told Reuters last week.
The offer by AstraZeneca was an improvement but "it is
definitely not the amount which we expect to receive until the
end of the first quarter, so of course discussions will
continue," the spokesman told a news conference.
(Reporting by Louise Heavens)