EU seeks answers from AstraZeneca on cut to vaccine supplies

The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker has received an up-front payment of 336 million euros ($409 million) from the EU, a third EU official told Reuters when the 27-nation bloc sealed a supply deal with AstraZeneca in August for at least 300 million doses - the first signed by the EU to secure Covid-19 shots. File Picture: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

The European Union is meeting with AstraZeneca executives today to seek further clarification on why they unexpectedly announced a large cut in supplies of Covid-19 vaccine to the bloc for the first quarter of the year, EU officials said.

AstraZeneca, which developed its shot with Oxford University, told the EU on Friday that it could not meet the agreed supply targets running up to the end of March, with an EU official telling Reuters that meant a 60% cut to 31 million doses.