EU heaps pressure on AstraZeneca to fulfil vaccine deal

On Friday, AstraZeneca said they plan to change a pre-agreed delivery schedule, and it has emerged this could mean a significantly smaller shipment for all EU countries, including Ireland. Picture: PA

Another EU body has added to the pressure on AstraZeneca to deliver shipments of the Covid-19 vaccine on time, as the director of the European Medicine Agency said she hopes the problem will be “short-lived”.

Speaking to an EU parliamentary committee, Emer Cooke also said studies have shown existing vaccines offer protection against the UK variant of the virus, and possibly against the South African variant.