AstraZeneca Finally Agrees to Boost EU Vaccine Supplies
The UK-Swedish Vaccine maker AstraZeneca finally agreed to increase its supplies to the EU by additional 9 million doses by March, after days of criticism of the bloc’s vaccination programme.
Gathogo Wanjiru 
After a standoff between the EU and the vaccine maker AstraZeneca, now they have come to an agreement on the supplies.
Speaking to the press, the Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen I said they have made a ‘step forward’. The commission had been involved in a row with both AstraZeneca and UK last week.
The commission was particularly condemned over its threat to put checks on the Northern Ireland border to block vaccines produced in the EU from reaching the UK.
The border was the biggest challenge to overcome in the recent agreed Brexit deal after the UK departures from the European Union.
The European Union was unhappy that Britain was getting its UK-made contracted supplies from AstraZeneca while it suffered a shortfall.
The Union, therefore, announced it was going to impose export controls on the Covid-19 vaccine made within the EU to try to protect its supplies. The Brexit deal ensures there are no trade barriers between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
