The EU will urge the US to permit the export of millions of doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine to Europe, as Brussels scrambles to bridge supply shortfalls that have hobbled its inoculation drive.
The European Commission plans to raise the matter in forthcoming transatlantic discussions aimed at boosting collaboration on the fight against Covid-19, EU officials said.
The EU also wants Washington to ensure the free flow of shipments of crucial vaccine ingredients needed in European production, including for groundbreaking mRNA technology vaccines.
The European push to access US production of the AstraZeneca jab comes as the company battles to meet first-quarter 2021 EU delivery targets already slashed because of production problems in the bloc.
AstraZeneca has also said it intends to source half of its planned second-quarter supply to the EU from elsewhere in the world.
The European Commission told the Financial Times: “We trust that we can work together…