European Commissioner Thierry Breton announced on Sunday that the EU had "for the moment" not renewed its contract for the supply of Covid-19 vaccines with AstraZeneca for after the month of June.
On the other hand, a new contract was signed with BioNTech-Pfizer for 1.8 billion doses.
The European Union has not yet renewed its Covid-19 vaccine supply contract with AstraZeneca for after the month of June, European Commissioner Thierry Breton said on Sunday the day after the announcement of the signing of a new EU contract with Pfizer.
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"We'll see, we'll see what's going on"
"We have not renewed the contract (with AstraZeneca) after the month of June. We will see, we will see what is happening," said the European commissioner in charge of the internal market, questioned on France Inter / France Info. Relaunched by his interviewers to find out if the current non-renewal meant an end of definitive inadmissibility for the AstraZeneca vaccine, Thierry Breton left in doubt. “It's not done yet, wait,” he said. "We have started" contract renewals with Pfizer / BioNTech but "we will have more," he said. "We started with Pfizer because we are working on the second phase, second generation vaccines," he said. It's about "putting yourself in a situation before others"countries for the continuation of the vaccination program, he said.
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The new doses will protect against the new variants
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday announced a new contract to purchase up to 1.8 billion doses of Covid vaccine from BioNTech-Pfizer.
"Other contracts and other vaccine technologies will follow," she added.
The contract with the German and American laboratories, allies in the production of anti-Covid vaccines, provide for deliveries from this year until 2023. These new doses will make it possible in particular to protect the population against the new variants of the coronavirus but also to vaccinate children and adolescents.
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EU relies on so-called messenger RNA vaccines
The EU now openly relies on so-called messenger RNA vaccines, such as those from BioNTech-Pfizer and the American Moderna, an innovative technology deemed more effective against the so-called "South African" and "Brazilian" variants.
AstraZeneca's vaccine, which uses more traditional technology, on the other hand suffered from severe delivery delays which prompted the EU to take legal action against the Swedish-British laboratory.
The EU and AstraZeneca will explain this to a Brussels court on May 26.
Rare cases of thrombosis associated with its inoculation have also led to its use being restricted.
AstraZeneca has produced a vaccine "which is very interesting" and "very good", said Thierry Breton.
"Above all, it has the advantage of being able to be used in logistical and temperature conditions" which are more flexible than other vaccines, he said.