Italy’s prime minister has accused AstraZeneca of a “serious contractual violation” for what he said was an unexpected reduction in the number of doses of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine that will be delivered to European Union countries.
Giuseppe Conte said that Italy would consider “all legal steps” after senior AstraZeneca executives in Italy confirmed on Saturday that Italy would be given 3.4m doses in the first quarter instead of 8m.
Mr Conte’s anger at AstraZeneca adds to mounting tensions between EU governments and Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers over delays to expected deliveries that have already prompted Italy to threaten legal action against BioNTech/Pfizer.
“These delays in deliveries are serious contractual violations, which cause enormous damage to Italy and other European countries with direct effects on the lives and health of citizens, and on our economic and social fabric already…