Last checked at 
* AstraZeneca cut supplies to EU after issues at Belgian
plant
* EU wants agreed doses from other plants, including UK
* EU calls for publication of contract
(Updates after EU meeting with AstraZeneca, company statement)
By Francesco Guarascio and Ludwig Burger
BRUSSELS, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The European Union failed to
make a breakthrough in crisis talks with AstraZeneca on
Wednesday and demanded the drugmaker spell out how it would
supply the bloc with reserved doses of COVID-19 vaccine from
plants in Europe and Britain.
The EU is making more comprehensive checks on vaccines
before approval, which means a slower rollout of shots than
former EU member Britain and growing public frustration.
The issue has been exacerbated by Anglo-Swedish AstraZeneca
and Pfizer of the United States both announcing delivery
hold-ups in recent weeks.
"We regret the continued lack of clarity on the delivery
schedule and request a clear plan from AstraZeneca for the fast
delivery of the quantity of vaccines that we reserved for Q1,"
EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in a tweet.
"We will work with the company to find solutions and deliver
vaccines rapidly for EU citizens," she said, after AstraZeneca
chief executive Pascal Soriot addressed a vaccine body made up
of representatives from the EU's 27 members.
AstraZeneca said in a statement it had a constructive
conversation with the EU about the complexities of scaling up
production and had committed to closer coordination on working
out deliveries in the coming months.
Earlier, Kyriakides told a news conference that two of the
four factories from which AstraZeneca has committed to providing
vaccines to the EU are in Britain.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it would have been
a "great pity" if the United Kingdom had stayed in the European
Union's vaccine programme rather than set up its own plan.
"I do think that we've been able to do things differently,
and better, in some ways," he said in parliament.
AstraZeneca, which partnered with Britain's Oxford
University to develop its vaccine, said last week it would cut
supplies to the EU in the first quarter, with an EU official
saying that meant the EU would receive 31 million doses in the
period, or 60% less than initially agreed, due to production
issues at a Belgian factory.
The EU has been pushing the company for a week to revise
these cuts, but it is unclear how it can force delivery of the
agreed amounts.
Soriot told newspapers on Tuesday the EU contract was based
on a best-effort clause and did not commit the company to a
specific timetable for deliveries.
He said that vaccines meant for the EU were produced in four
plants in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy.
But EU Commission officials said on Wednesday that the
contract stipulated that the company had also committed to
providing vaccines from two factories in Britain.
They added the firm had not provided sufficient explanations
on why doses could not be shipped from stocks at fully
functioning factories.
Reuters on Tuesday exclusively reported that EU's calls to
reroute doses from Britain had not been answered by AstraZeneca
.
As an example of how the glitches are biting, delays in
deliveries are forcing health authorities in Spain's wealthiest
regions of Madrid and Catalonia to restrict inoculations even as
a third wave of contagion rages, officials said.
Adding to the confusion, a factory in Wales that produces
AstraZeneca's vaccine was partially evacuated on Wednesday after
it received a suspicious package and police said a bomb disposal
unit was dealing with the incident.
MEETING OR NO MEETING?
The EU has also threatened to monitor future exports of
COVID-19 vaccines, although the EU trade commissioner ruled out
any export bans.
Fraught relations showed up in confusion about the timing of
a meeting between the EU and AstraZeneca and whether the company
would even attend.
The EU contract with AstraZeneca is an advance purchase
agreement for the supply of at least 300 million doses provided
the vaccine is approved as safe and effective, with doses
delivered in stages. It is expected to be approved by the
European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Friday.
Officials added that the best-effort clause was standard in
contracts with manufacturers of products in development. One EU
official said best effort meant the company had to show an
"overall" effort to develop and deliver vaccines.
AstraZeneca said on Wednesday that supply chains were
developed with input from specific countries or international
organisations and that each supply chain was dedicated to the
relevant countries or regions, making use of local manufacturing
where possible.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio, Ludwig Burger; Additional
reporting by Francois Murphy, Kate Kelland, Sabine Siebold and
Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Nick Macfie, Edmund Blair and
Aurora Ellis)
