The EU has not renewed its order for AstraZeneca covid-19 jabs, according to a bloc commissioner.
“We have not renewed the order for after June,” said Thierry Breton, the EU’s Internal Market Commissioner, in an interview with French radio station France Inter.
“We will see what happens next,” he added.
This development came shortly after the EU signed a large contract with Pfizer-BioNTech, agreeing to purchase as many as 1.8 billion doses between now and 2023.
European Union member states will aim to agree on digital vaccination certificates to ease travel in the bloc by June 21st, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte has said. (via @IrishTimesWorld)
https://t.co/gGWLaK1PB2— Irish Times World (@IrishTimesWorld) May 9, 2021
Before that, the EU opened legal proceedings against AstraZeneca, alleging that the company had failed to meet its contractual obligations with the bloc, with numerous failed/late deliveries of vaccine shipments across the various 27 EU member states, including Ireland.
EU starts legal action against AstraZeneca over vaccine shortfalls https://t.co/4PK0hKRkjc
— The Guardian (@guardian) April 26, 2021
Vaccine rollouts will become increasingly important in coming weeks and months as various EU member states seek to approve a system of vaccine travel certificates by June 21st, according to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
“This timetable now would be that we all hope that by the 21st of June…there is an agreement,” adding that the Netherlands would attempt to introduce such a system for travel “as quickly as possible after that date.”
The June date given for travel green cert and the European countries likely to welcome Irish tourists https://t.co/D7HT1kJ0H4
— Irish Daily Mirror (@IrishMirror) May 10, 2021