Settlement Reached w/AstraZeneca To End Vaccine Litigation

The EU has released a statement saying that it has reached a settlement with pharma giant AstraZeneca to end litigation over supply of its COVID-19 vaccine to the bloc.

• Full statement here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail...
• The EU says that "This settlement agreement provides for the firm commitment by AstraZeneca to deliver, in addition to the around 100 million doses delivered until end of Q2, 135 million doses by the end of 2021 (60 million doses by the end of Q3 and 75 million doses by the end of Q4) and the remaining doses (65 million) by the end of March 2022.This will bring the total number of doses delivered to 300 million doses as agreed under the contract."
• The EU also states that it will seek to distribute 200mn vaccine doses to emerging markets through the COVAX programme.
• One of the major issues in the EU and in emerging markets will be encouraging individuals to take the AZ vaccine. Since the efficacy and the safety of the vaccine was (incorrectly) bashed by EU institutional and member state leaders in early 2021, there has been significant reluctance to take the AZ vaccine in many EU member states.
• Moreover, in emerging markets there has been a backlash against the vaccine, with some criticising it as a 'reject' vaccine not seen as good enough for EU citizens, but good enough for those in the developing world, significantly damaging global vaccination efforts in the fight against COVID-19.