France U-turns on AstraZeneca Covid vaccine amid EU shortfall of 90M doses

France’s government has said it wants to ‘rehabilitate’ the AstraZeneca vaccine as EU leaders try to undo the doubts they sowed about the jab which have led to low uptake despite its proven effectiveness.  

The French health ministry admitted that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine had an ‘image deficit’ which had led to ‘feeble’ usage of the jab, with only 107,000 people immunised with it so far. 

It comes after Emmanuel Macron himself raised doubts about the jab’s effectiveness and claimed that Britain had taken a risk by authorising it so soon, while French regulators refused to approve it for over-65s. 

Meanwhile the French government is considering new local restrictions to deal with a worsening Covid-19 situation as it scrambles to avoid a new national lockdown. 

‘We will use all possible levers to rehabilitate the vaccine,’ the French health ministry said, according to Le Telegramme, days after real-world data in Scotland showed the AstraZeneca shot reducing Covid hospitalisations by 94 per cent. 

Germany’s government is also pleading with people to take the AstraZeneca jab, while EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said that she herself would take it – despite her furious row with the drugmaker last month over missing shipments to the EU. 

That struggle is set to continue into the spring with as many as 90million doses missing from AstraZeneca shipments in the second quarter of 2021. 

An EU official involved in talks with the firm says AstraZeneca has warned that it may deliver only half of its promised 180million doses from April to June, having slowed supplies in January because of delays at a Belgian factory. 

The new shortage could hamper the EU’s ability to meet its target of vaccinating 70 per cent of adults by summer – with Britain promising to offer one dose to 100 per cent by July 31.     

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, pictured, says she would take the AstraZeneca vaccine despite feuding with the firm over supplies to the bloc 

This graph shows how the UK has outpaced the EU, including wealthy Germany and France, in administering the vaccines that will open the door out of lockdown 

The EU supply shortage is seen as one of the main reasons for a widely-criticised vaccine roll-out which is lagging far behind that in Britain. 

While the UK has handed out 27.0 doses per 100 people, the EU is lagging behind on 6.2 and has not significantly sped up its progress in recent weeks. 

Von der Leyen defended her policies by pointing out that the EU had handed out 27milion doses in total compared to 17million in Britain – but the bloc of 27 countries has a population more than six times larger.  

She also noted that Italy had given double-doses to more people than Britain, but it has handed out far fewer doses overall.  

Catching up to Britain will be made even harder if AstraZeneca shortfalls continue into the early summer, as an EU official told Reuters last night. 

Von der Leyen told the Augsburger Allgemeine that ‘I would take the AstraZeneca vaccine without a second thought, just like Moderna’s and BioNTech/Pfizer’s products,’ 

But she also continued to voice doubts about the UK’s strategy of delaying second doses – a move approved by Britain’s chief medical officers – as she claimed that the EU was ‘catching up’ in the vaccine race.  

AstraZeneca is producing vaccines at two plants in the UK, one in Belgium and one in the Netherlands, but is not exporting its British-made jabs under its contract with UK ministers – although it has offered the EU doses made in India and the US. 

The official said AstraZeneca planned to deliver about 40million doses in the first quarter, less than half the 90million shots it was supposed to supply. 

It was also due to deliver 30 million doses in the last quarter of 2020 but did not supply any shots last year as its vaccine had yet to be approved by the EU.

All told, AstraZeneca’s total supply to the EU could be about 130 million doses by the end of June, well below the 300 million it committed to deliver to the bloc by then.

AstraZeneca did not deny the EU official’s claims, but said it was striving to increase productivity in order to meet its 180million target. 

‘We are hopeful that we will be able to bring our deliveries closer in line with the advance purchase agreement,’ an AstraZeneca spokesman said. 

Later in the day, the firm added that its ‘most recent Q2 forecast… aims to deliver in line with its contract with the European Commission’.    

‘At this stage AstraZeneca is working to increase productivity in its EU supply chain and to continue to make use of its global capability in order to achieve delivery of 180 million doses to the EU in the second quarter,’ it said. 

A European Commission spokesman declined to comment on confidential talks but said the EU should have enough shots even if the AstraZeneca targets are not met.   

This woman received the AstraZeneca vaccine in a hospital in Madrid on Tuesday - but elsewhere there has been low uptake after European scaremongering about the product

This woman received the AstraZeneca vaccine in a hospital in Madrid on Tuesday – but elsewhere there has been low uptake after European scaremongering about the product 

An EU regulator approved the AstraZeneca jab in late January but the ruling was overshadowed by a furious political row over the delayed shipments. 

After AstraZeneca warned of shortfalls but continued to supply Britain in full, the EU published its contract with the firm and claimed to have cast-iron commitments. 

Brussels also imposed export controls on jab shipments leaving the bloc, but was forced into retreat after initially saying they would apply to Northern Ireland. 

But AstraZeneca’s CEO blamed the delays on the fact that the EU had not signed a contract until three months after Britain had tied up a deal last year. 

AstraZeneca is not exporting vaccines made in the UK, in line with its separate contract with the British government. 

But AstraZeneca has told the EU it could provide more doses from its global supply chain, including from India and the United States, an EU official said last week.   

AstraZeneca is now forecast to make up its shortfalls by the end of September, according to a German health ministry document.  

German officials expect to receive 34million doses in the third quarter, taking the country to its full entitlement of 56million out of the EU’s 300million doses. 

The EU published its 42-page contract with AstraZeneca, pictured, at the height of a bitter row over shipments last month

The EU published its 42-page contract with AstraZeneca, pictured, at the height of a bitter row over shipments last month 

Despite its approval by EU regulators, the AstraZeneca vaccine has met with resistance in some countries – further slowing the European roll-out. 

Some countries including France and Germany have refused to approve it for over-65s because of limited trial data, despite the firm’s assurances that it is effective. 

French president Emmanuel Macron added fuel to the fire by questioning the jab’s effectiveness and claiming Britain had taken a risk by authorising it so soon. 

The effect of such scaremongering is that only 187,000 AstraZeneca shots have been administered in Germany out of 1.5million due to have been delivered by last week.   

German leaders have now launched a public relations push to reassure the public that the shot developed at Oxford University is effective.

‘The vaccine from AstraZeneca is both safe and highly effective,’ Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Monday. ‘The vaccine can save lives.’

Von der Leyen has now joined in that effort, saying that she herself would take the vaccine despite her earlier feud with the company. 

It comes as France may need to impose new local restrictions to deal with a worsening Covid-19 situation as it scrambles to avoid a new national lockdown, a government spokesman said Wednesday.

Infections have reached worrying levels in several parts of the country, spokesman Gabriel Attal told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting.

The warning comes only days after the French Riviera was ordered into lockdown for the coming two weekends to contain Covid-19 which has been spreading faster in the tourist hotspot than elsewhere in France, and border controls were tightened.

Attal said similar moves could become necessary elsewhere because of ‘a worsening situation’ that he said ‘requires rapid and strong measures’.

Within hours of that warning, Health Minister Olivier Veran said that the northern coastal city of Dunkirk would also be locked down at weekends, until further notice, after the infection rate there went over 900 for 100,000 people, close to nine times the national average.

Like on the Riviera, the some 250,000 people in the city and surrounding area would be allowed to leave their homes only for specific authorised reasons, Veran said, calling Dunkirk’s infection rate ‘alarming’.

But the list could lengthen further: Around 10 of France’s 102 territorial areas known as departments were now in a ‘very worrying situation’, Attal said.

‘We must continue all our efforts to avoid having to impose another national lockdown,’ he said.

There was ‘obviously’ no certainty that such a drastic measure could be avoided, he said, warning that the government would not hesitate to order such a move if it was deemed necessary.

Prime Minister Jean Castex will host a news conference to update the country on the Covid situation on Thursday, Attal said.

What IS behind Britain’s vaccine drive slowing down? All the answers to your questions on the AstraZeneca/Pfizer supply issues which ministers say is to blame

Britain’s vaccine rollout has slowed down over the past month, with ministers and manufacturers pointing the finger at each other for the hold-up.

With a successful immunisation drive crucial to Britain’s hopes of restrictions getting eased drastically over the next few months, critics say it is vital the programme picks up speed to avoid Boris Johnson‘s ambitious plans getting derailed.

Just 192,000 people were vaccinated on Monday and 142,000 on Sunday, in two of the lowest daily tolls since the mammoth NHS operation began to gather steam at the start of the year.

Ministers have repeatedly blamed the supply of vaccines as being the ‘rate-limiting factor’ of the programme, and the UK’s reliance on just two companies’ jabs makes the situation precarious.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson today said there was ‘no problem’ with the supply chain and Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief medical officer, agreed that ‘fluctuations’ were anticipated.

Officials say smaller deliveries were expected because Pfizer had to improve its key factory in Belgium at the start of the year, and AstraZeneca’s production was slower to get off the ground than planned.

However, both drug giants have insisted that there are no unforeseen issues with the supply chain, as Nicola Sturgeon said Scotland’s rollout couldn’t speed up until ‘the supplies start to flow in greater volumes again’.

And the concerns spread wider than Britain when an EU official revealed that AstraZeneca is now set to deliver only half of the planned doses to the continent in the second quarter of this year as the firm recovers from a row with the bloc earlier in the year about its supply commitments.

Despite fears that deliveries are slowing down, Matt Hancock has promised ‘bumper’ weeks in March to compensate for the lag. Supply figures published by the Scottish Government in mid-January appeared to back his claims, which the number of doses being delivered next month set to be significantly higher. 

Here, MailOnline digs into why Britain’s vaccination drive has slowed down:

Delivery schedules published by the Scottish Government in January and later removed from its website showed a scheduled dip in stocks in February followed by a surge in availability in March

Delivery schedules published by the Scottish Government in January and later removed from its website showed a scheduled dip in stocks in February followed by a surge in availability in March

What slowed down Pfizer’s vaccine? 

One of the biggest hold-ups in vaccine delivery appears to have been Pfizer doing maintenance work at its manufacturing facility in Belgium.

As part of preparing to produce hundreds of millions of doses for countries around the world, the company admitted in January that it would be delaying deliveries.

A frustrated EU Commission said the delay was caused by ‘modifications at the plant’ and Pfizer planned to have finished them by mid-February.

Pfizer confirmed the disruption would affect all countries in Europe and told the Financial Times: ‘Although this will temporarily impact shipments in late January to early February, it will provide a significant increase in doses available for patients in late February and March.’ 

The Scottish Government plans showed that the deliveries from Pfizer would fall by a third from around 128,000 doses in the final week of January to 80-83,000 per week throughout February before spiking back to 130,000 or more in March. 

Scotland gets around eight per cent of the UK’s vaccine supply, suggesting the deliveries for the UK as a whole may have changed from 1.6million per week to 1m.

Pfizer told MailOnline yesterday there were ‘no UK supply challenges’ and deliveries were arriving as planned. 

Pfizer had to make 'modifications' at its manufacturing facility in Belgium which led to delays to deliveries of the vaccine to countries all over Europe

Pfizer had to make ‘modifications’ at its manufacturing facility in Belgium which led to delays to deliveries of the vaccine to countries all over Europe

What slowed down AstraZeneca’s vaccine? 

The UK’s other major vaccine supplier, AstraZeneca, is making up for the majority of jabs being given out and is expected to be supplying 2million doses per week.

This rapid pace of delivery came later than expected, however, which delayed the NHS’s plans to roll it out to care homes and GP surgeries across the country.

Mid-January had been the original target for two million per week, The Times reported at the start of the year, but this was pushed back by a month.

In a briefing on January 13 AstraZeneca president Tom Keith-Roach said the commitment would be met ‘on or before the middle of February’.  

AstraZeneca slashes EU delivery expectation by half 

AstraZeneca told the European Union yesterday it would not be able to deliver on the EU’s vaccine orders amid supply issues.

The firm had committed to supplying the bloc with 180million doses in the second quarter of 2020.

But an EU official involved directly in talks with the firm, said the company had warned it could now only ‘deliver less than 90million doses’, according to Reuters. 

Britain has ordered 100million doses of the Oxford vaccine and it is one of two Covid jabs being rolled out on the NHS. 

Asked about the EU official’s comment, a spokesman for AstraZeneca told Reuters yesterday: ‘We are hopeful that we will be able to bring our deliveries closer in line with the advance purchase agreement.’

Later in the day a spokesman in a new statement said the company’s ‘most recent Q2 forecast for the delivery of its COVID-19 vaccine aims to deliver in line with its contract with the European Commission.’

He added: ‘At this stage AstraZeneca is working to increase productivity in its EU supply chain and to continue to make use of its global capability in order to achieve delivery of 180 million doses to the EU in the second quarter.’ 

Earlier this week, AstraZeneca said that although there had been ‘fluctuations’ in supply at plants, they were still ‘on track’ with orders with no issues with delivery of the UK-manufactured vaccine.

A spokesman for the European Commission, which coordinates talks with vaccine manufacturers, said it could not comment on the discussions as they were confidential.

He said the EU should have more than enough shots to hit its vaccination targets if the expected and agreed deliveries from other suppliers are met, regardless of the situation with AstraZeneca.

The Scottish delivery figures show that AstraZeneca’s supplies were also scheduled to be low in February.

They would fall from a high of 261,000 doses in a week in late January to none at all in one week in the middle of the month, before escalating to more than 300,000 per week from the beginning of March. 

A spokesman for AstraZeneca said on Monday that although there had been ‘fluctuations’ in supply at plants, the firm was still ‘on track’ with orders. 

Why are the UK and Europe being affected differently?

Pfizer’s manufacturing issues appear to affect the European Union and Britain equally, but AstraZeneca’s are different because it manufactures the vaccines in different places. 

The AstraZeneca vaccine is a natural product – it is a genetically engineered virus made to look like the coronavirus – so must be grown naturally.  

The cells needed to make the jab will only reproduce as fast as they naturally can, and astronomical quantities of them are needed, which means the process will always take a minimum amount of time. 

AstraZeneca says it takes three months, on average, to make each batch of the vaccine.

Numerous ones are made at the same time but this means that there is an upper limit to how much or how fast one plant can make jabs.

And the yields of these natural batches are also not entirely controllable – the company said it had not produced as much as it had hoped at the start of the production. 

Low yields at major European supply plants in Belgium have devastated supply plans on the continent, but Britain makes its own supply in England where the success rate has been higher.

Is there an easy solution? 

The UK’s ‘lumpy’ supply cannot be improved easily because there is no quick fix for such a huge manufacturing operation.

Other countries have vaccine orders of equal or higher priority – Pfizer is being used widely in Europe, for example, and Moderna is still unavailable to the UK because it was later to place orders than the US and EU.

And of the vaccines Britain is already receiving, manufacturing cannot be sped up infinitely.

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s deputy chief medical officer, explained on Sky News today: ‘There are always going to be supply fluctuations. 

‘These are new vaccines, by and large the manufacturers have not made them or anything like them before.

‘The process of making a vaccine is one where, basically, you set the equipment up and leave it all to do its thing – a bit like beer-making really.

‘What you get at the end is not something that you can say is identical every time in terms of the yield, the amount of doses you can then make from that batch.’

He added that it will take ‘a few months’ before the manufacturers can get into a steady routine, he said, and there were also ‘global supply constraints’.

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam

Sir Simon Stevens

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam (left), England’s deputy chief medical officer, said ‘There are always going to be supply fluctuations’, and NHS chief Sir Simon Stevens (right) said the pace of vaccination could double in the second phase of the rollout

Will the UK’s vaccine rollout speed up?

Ministers insist that the vaccination programme will speed up significantly in March when supplies become bigger and more regular. 

The Government is aiming to vaccinate everyone over the age of 50 by May, and Boris Johnson said he plans to offer a first dose to all adults in the UK by July 31.  

Moderna’s vaccine, of which the UK is expecting seven million doses and has already approved for us, will start to be delivered from the end of March. 

Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, suggested the rollout could even go twice as fast in its second phase in order to keep reaching people at the same rate as now while also giving out the second doses to elderly people.

‘Compelling’ real-world data from Scotland shows one dose of either jab cuts risk of being hospitalised by up to 95% 

Covid vaccines being used in Britain are working ‘spectacularly well’ and cutting hospital admissions caused by the virus by as much as 95 per cent, according to the first real-world evidence of the roll-out. 

Researchers yesterday called the results ‘very encouraging’ and claimed they provided ‘compelling evidence’ that they can prevent severe illness.

Scientists counted Covid hospital admissions in Scotland among people who had had their first dose of a jab and compared them to those who had not yet received a dose of either the Pfizer or Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

In a ray of hope for Britain’s lockdown-easing plans, results showed the jabs slashed the risk of being admitted to hospital with Covid by up to 85 and 94 per cent, respectively, four weeks after a single dose.

The study — carried out by academics from the universities of Edinburgh and Strathclyde, as well as Public Health Scotland — was the first of its kind. But it currently doesn’t have enough data to analyse how well the jabs prevent death or stop transmission of the virus. 

Lead researcher Professor Aziz Sheikh said: ‘These results are very encouraging and have given us great reasons to be optimistic for the future. We now have national evidence that vaccination provides protection against Covid hospitalisations. 

‘Roll-out of the first vaccine dose now needs to be accelerated globally to help overcome this terrible disease.’

He said at a Downing Street briefing last week: ‘In this next phase, the second sprint, actually we’re going to be vaccinating a larger number of people than in the first sprint.

‘And overall, although supply will vary week to week and we’ve got to adjust accordingly, we may be giving up to twice as many vaccinations overall – given we’ve got to be doing second doses as well – than we have done in the first sprint.’

Health Secretary Matt Hancock also yesterday said vaccination figures would stay low for the rest of this week in an interview with LBC’s Nick Ferrari.

He said it will be a ‘quieter week’ for the vaccine rollout because of a drop in stockpiles, warning that the success of the drive was ‘all about supply’.

Mr Hancock added: ‘We have got a quieter week this week and then we’re going to have some really bumper weeks in March.’

Pointing the blame at vaccine manufacturers, he also claimed there has been ‘ups and downs’ in the delivery schedule.  

Why is it important for the rollout to progress quickly? 

Britain’s vaccination programme must go quickly because the country’s entire route out of lockdown hinges on it.

Boris Johnson’s plans to lift lockdown rules are based on vaccinating the majority of people who are likely to die if they catch coronavirus.

The more people who can be successfully vaccinated with at least one dose, the faster the rules can be loosened because the lower the death count of the third wave could be expected to be.

A third wave of the virus is now inevitable, with cases expected to skyrocket when lockdown ends, but the impact of this will be more tolerable if the majority of adults in the country are immune to the virus. 

Professor Paul Hunter, from the University of East Anglia, said yesterday that Britain will struggle to stick to its plans if vaccination rates don’t pick up ‘very soon’. 

Professor Hunter pointed out that the rapid decline in positive coronavirus tests seen earlier in the lockdown appears to be levelling off now, and the number of people being vaccinated each day are dropping lower at the same time.

He warned: ‘Taken together, these two observations are concerning…

‘If more of our vulnerable people were protected from severe disease through immunisation, then we could allow some increase in numbers without posing a substantial extra risk of severe disease and hospitalisation. 

‘However, a lot of people admitted to hospital with Covid are still not in the groups where vaccination has been completed.

‘If vaccination rates do not pick up very soon, then we will struggle to give enough people their first dose before we have to allocate more and more of our available doses to people’s second injections. 

‘This could lead to more potentially vulnerable individuals being unprotected for a lot longer than we had expected as we try to relax restrictions further. This would have the real potential to derail the UK’s road plan for coming out of lockdown.’