The EU should consider legal means and even block exports if it does not receive the vaccine doses promised by drug companies including AstraZeneca, the president of the European Council has said.
Charles Michel made the comments in a letter to four EU leaders as Brussels and AstraZeneca are embroiled in an escalating row over the bloc's slow start to its inoculation programme.
The European Commission has asked Belgian authorities to inspect production at a plant in Belgium that makes the AstraZeneca vaccine, where problems have led to a large shortfall in supply.
Belgium's Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAGG) said on Thursday that the EU executive, which has coordinated vaccine orders for the European Union, had requested an inspection of production flows.
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The row has come about after AstraZeneca announced it would have to cut the amount of jabs delivered to the bloc's 27 nations before the end of March from 80 million to 31 million, citing production issues at European factories.
Brussels believes it will get even less than that - just one quarter of the doses that member states were supposed to get during the first three months of 2021 - and has accused AstraZeneca of a breach of contract.
Mr Michel, who represents the EU's 27 member states, said in the letter: "I support all efforts to resolve the matter with companies through dialogue and negotiation.
"However, if no satisfactory solution can be found, I believe we should explore all options and make use of all legal means and enforcement measures at our disposal under the Treaties."
EU rules on monitoring and authorising exports of COVID-19 vaccines could lead to exports being stopped if they violated existing contracts between the vaccine maker and the bloc, an EU official said.
It comes as Germany has said the AstraZeneca vaccine should not be offered to people over the age of 65, a source close the country's government has told Sky News.
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Germany's vaccine committee made the recommendation, citing insufficient data about how effective the jab is for older people, not because of any safety concerns, Reuters reported.
UK prime minister Boris Johnson said he was not worried because Britain's medicines regulator had judged it is "effective across all age groups and provides a good immune response across all age groups".
He added "I don't agree" with the apparent assessment in Germany.
A senior EU official suggested on Thursday that coronavirus vaccines produced in the UK should be shared with the bloc as its supply comes under pressure.
Brussels health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said given AstraZeneca is blaming production problems at factories in Europe on the shortfall in jabs delivered, the pharmaceutical giant's plants in Britain should be used instead.
Over three nights Sky News will host a series of special programmes examining the UK's response to the pandemic.
Watch COVID Crisis: Learning the Lessons at 8pm on 9, 10 and 11 February
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2021-01-28 18:35:50Z
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