EU and AstraZeneca both claim victory after COVID-19 vaccine fight

A Belgian court on Friday ordered drugs company AstraZeneca to deliver 50 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to EU members by September 27, fewer than Brussels had demanded.

The court said in a statement that AstraZeneca must deliver 15 million doses by July 26, another 20 million by August 23 and another 15 million by September 27, for a total of 50 million doses.

Should the company miss these deadlines it would face a penalty of "10 euros ($11.8) per dose not delivered", the EU Commission said.

Both sides claimed victory. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Friday's ruling supported the EU's view that AstraZeneca had failed to meet its commitments.

While AstraZenecasaid it would easily meet the target and the judgment also acknowledged the difficulties it experienced.

"The European Commission had requested 120 million vaccine doses cumulatively by the end of June 2021, and a total of 300 million doses by the end of September 2021," the firm said.

"The judge ordered delivery of 80.2 million doses by 27 September 2021," it said – including the 30 million it already delivered in the first quarter in its calculation.

"To date, the Company has supplied more than 70 million doses to the European Union and will substantially exceed 80.2 million doses by the end of June 2021."

"The judgment also acknowledged that the difficulties experienced by AstraZeneca in this unprecedented situation had a substantial impact on the delay," AstraZeneca said in a

statement

, adding it looks forward to renewed collaboration with the EU.

The EU has already stopped purchasing AstraZenecashots due to the supply shortfall.

AstraZeneca initially committed in a contract with the EU to do its best to deliver 300 million doses to the 27-nation bloc by the end of June, but production problems led the company to revise down its target to 100 million.

The EU in April filed a lawsuit against AstraZeneca for breach of contract, followed by a second last month seeking financial penalties for the delays to vaccine supply.

(With input from agencies)