The vaccine from the AstraZeneca laboratory was created in collaboration with the University of Oxford.

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Due to a "drop in yield" at a manufacturing site, deliveries of the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine against the coronavirus in Europe will be smaller than expected, the British group said on Friday.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced on January 12 that it had received an application for authorization for the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine against the novel coronavirus, indicating that it could render its decision on January 29.

Up to 400 million doses of this vaccine reserved by the EU

“While there is no expected timeframe for the start of our vaccine shipments, if we receive approval in Europe, initial volumes will be lower than originally forecast due to lower yield at one site. manufacturing of our European supply chain, ”said a spokesperson for AstraZeneca.

The European Commission had initially reserved up to 400 million doses of this vaccine.

“We will deliver tens of millions of doses in February and March to the European Union, and we continue to increase production volumes.

», Added the spokesperson, without specifying the exact quantities.

A cheaper vaccine, easier to produce and transport

AstraZeneca "confirmed today at the Steering Committee meeting with Member States that there will be a change in its delivery schedule," said Stefan De Keersmaecker, European Commission spokesperson responsible for health.

"We are trying to find out more," he added.

The European Union and the EMA are under pressure to speed up approval of new vaccines against the virus.

The AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine has the advantage of being cheaper to produce than that of its rivals.

It is also easier to store and transport, especially that from Pfizer / BioNTech which must be stored at very low temperatures (-70 ° C).

The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine is a “viral vector” vaccine which takes as a carrier another virus (a chimpanzee adenovirus) transformed and adapted to fight Covid-19.

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