BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany said it expected to receive 16 million doses of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine in the second quarter, the health ministry said.
That could represent a shortfall from the company’s commitments to deliver about twice that number of doses to Germany in that quarter, according to the leaked contract with the EU.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that delivery volumes to the European Union were expected to be at half the level AstraZeneca had contracted to supply in the second quarter.
Germany’s 16 million doses are in line with this possible shortfall, because the country was expected to receive about 34 million shots of the 180 million AstraZeneca agreed to supply the EU in the second quarter, according to a German health ministry internal document seen by Reuters and the leaked contract between AstraZeneca and the EU.
In its statement on Wednesday, the health ministry confirmed the German forecasts on deliveries contained in the internal document, which were not previously public.
According to the document, dated Feb. 22, Germany is expected to receive 33.8 million doses from AstraZeneca in the third quarter, beyond the timeline set in the EU contract, which envisages the completion of initial deliveries by the end of June.
In total Germany expects from AstraZeneca 56.3 million doses under the EU contract, which is equal to 18,7% of 300 million doses for the EU.
“In calculating the numbers of doses available to regions, the Health Ministry has always borne in mind that the AstraZeneca vaccine was authorised later than we had expected it to be in the autumn,” the health ministry said.
(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa, editing by Thomas Escritt and Douglas Busvine; Editing by Giles Elgood)
