New Delhi: British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca has cut the supply forecast of its Covid-19 vaccine to the European Union in the first quarter to about 30 million doses, which is a massive 25 per cent dip from its contractual obligations, a report published by news agency Reuters stated.
The document shared with EU dated March 10 highlights that AstraZeneca will now deliver 30.1 million doses by the end of March and additional 20 million in April.
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The moves comes as a massive setback for European Union as it is already facing severe crisis its Covid-19 vaccination drive due to delay in supply by other nations.
Last month, the pharma giant told EU Parliament that it will try to deliver 40 million vaccine doses by the end of March.
The report published by the news agency also states that the biotechnology firm has estimated a supply of 34 million doses to the EU for the January to March period, much less than its target of 90 million doses.
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Meanwhile, several European countries have temporarily suspended the rollout of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine over fears of blood clots. However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) backed the vaccine saying there is no reason to stop it.
Countries like Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxembourg have temporarily suspended the use of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine.