EU, AstraZeneca reach deal to end vaccine delivery dispute

By LORNE COOK
Associated Press

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union and drugmaker AstraZeneca say they reached a deal to end a damaging legal battle over the slow pace of deliveries of the company’s COVID-19 vaccines. The European Commission said Friday that AstraZeneca made a “firm commitment” to deliver a total of 300 million vaccine doses by March. The commission said it involves the pharmaceutical company providing 135 million doses by the end of this year plus another 65 million doses in the first quarter of 2022. Around 100 million have already been supplied. Brussels says the deliveries would respect an advance purchasing agreement the EU reached with AstraZeneca a year ago.