IRELAND'S supply of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine could be halved as the fallout between the EU and the pharma giant continues to unfold.
Last night's meeting between the EU Commission and AstraZeneca proved unsuccessful, as neither side could agree on a way to resolve the dispute.
AstraZeneca is adamant that it cannot meet its contractual obligations for shipments to the EU for February and March.
Though EU officials described the meeting as "constructive", Commissioner Stella Kyriakides later expressed her "regret" at "the continued lack of clarity on the delivery schedule", and requested "a clear plan from AstraZeneca for the fast delivery of the quantity of vaccines that we reserved for Q1."
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot announced on Tuesday that the firm will only be able to deliver 17m of the 40m doses that were originally agreed upon for February, and that further reductions would apply to March.
The shortfall means that Ireland's expected delivery of 600,000 could be reduced to 300,000 or less.
The commission has bluntly demanded that vaccine supplies should be diverted from the UK to the EU, even though UK contracts predate those arranged with the EU.
Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said: "We reject the logic of first-come, first-served. That may work at the neighbourhood butchers, but not in contracts. And not in our Advance Purchase Agreements."
This could deal a harsh blow to Ireland’s vaccine rollout, as Health Minister Stephen Donnelly previously described the AstraZeneca supply as a "game-changer".
Some good news brightened an otherwise bleak picture, as French firm Sanofi announced it will assist in producing the Pfizer vaccine, which should speed up production.
A Health Service Executive (HSE) spokeswoman confirmed yesterday that 24,570 doses of Pfizer BioNtech vaccine had been received as of this week.
A further 32,760 doses from Pfizer and 6,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine are due to arrive next week.
Despite assurances from Taoiseach Micheál Martin that the vaccine rollout will "pick up" in Q2, the health minister has backtracked on an earlier commitment to have the entire country vaccinated by September.
According to Mr Donnelly, his recent statement in the Dáil about the timeline of the nation-wide vaccination programme "wasn't a promise" and was "heavily caveated" based on supply chains.
"I said September - September is absolutely still the aspiration. It's not a promise," he said on Today With Claire Byrne on RTÉ Radio 1.
"We can't promise for all of those reasons - because it's a projection based partly on vaccinations that haven’t even been applied for authorisation, and on delivery schedules that still have to be fully agreed.
"If the vaccines come through that we have advanced purchases for, they're authorised, and if they come in on schedule, then it is reasonable to think that by September every adult could be vaccinated - but with all of those very serious caveats."
Mr Donnelly indicated that level 5 restrictions will continue until March 5, at which point the he hopes the vaccine roll out will accelerate.
Recent data from the Department of Health shows 54 Covid-related deaths and 1,335 confirmed cases of the virus throughout the country.
