EU rebuffs UK calls to ship AstraZeneca COVID vaccines from Europe

By Francesco Guarascio

BRUSSELS, March 21 (Reuters) - The European Union is
rebuffing British government calls to ship AstraZeneca
COVID-19 vaccines produced in a factory in the Netherlands, an
EU official said on Sunday.

Former EU member Britain has so far administered many more
vaccines than EU countries in proportion to the population.

"The Brits are insisting that the Halix plant in the
Netherlands must deliver the drug substance produced there to
them. That doesn't work," the official told Reuters.

The Leiden-based plant which is run by sub-contractor Halix
is listed as a supplier of vaccines in both the contracts that
AstraZeneca has signed with Britain and with the European Union.

"What is produced in Halix has to go to the EU," the
official added.

Britain has insisted that contracts must be respected.

"The European Commission will know that the rest of the
world is looking at the Commission, about how it conducts itself
on this, and if contracts get broken, and undertakings, that is
a very damaging thing to happen for a trading bloc that prides
itself on the rules of law," Defence Minister Ben Wallace said
on Sky News earlier in answer to a question about Commission
President Ursula Von der Leyen's threat to block exports to
Britain.

The EU official said the EU was not breaking any contract.

The European Union threatened on Wednesday to block exports
of COVID-19 vaccines to Britain to safeguard scarce doses for
its own citizens, with Von der Leyen saying the epidemiological
situation was worsening.

AstraZeneca has not yet sought approval in the EU for Halix,
but the official and a second EU source said the request was on
its way.

Without regulatory approval, vaccines produced at Halix
cannot be used in the EU.

An internal AstraZeneca document seen by Reuters shows that
the company expects EU approval on March 25.

AstraZeneca has declined to comment on the amount of
vaccines that are currently stockpiled at Halix.

The EU official said the factory had already produced shots,
but was not able to quantify the output. Under the EU contract
with AstraZeneca, vaccines must be produced before approval and
be delivered immediately afterwards.

Two factories in Britain run by Oxford Biomedica and Cobra
Biologics are also listed as suppliers to the EU in the contract
with AstraZeneca, but no vaccine has so far been shipped from
Britain to the EU, despite Brussels' earlier requests.

Officials have said that Cobra is not fully operational.
AstraZeneca told EU officials that the UK is using a clause in
its supply contract that prevents export of its vaccines until
the British market is fully served, EU officials said.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; Editing by
Giles Elgood)