Breton: EU has not renewed its AstraZeneca order for after June, "we'll see" if it does - France 24

Paris (AFP)

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.

"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 whether the current non-renewal meant a definitive end of inadmissibility for the AstraZeneca vaccine, Mr. 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 is a question of "putting oneself in a situation before the other" countries for the continuation of the vaccination program, he said.

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 new variants of the coronavirus but also to vaccinate children and adolescents.

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.

© 2021 AFP