EU demands AstraZeneca pay millions for failing to deliver doses

A Belgian court is weighing EU claims that there’s an emergency situation that merits an order for the drugmaker to deliver 20 million more COVID-19 shots than it has promised so far by the end of June.

The European Union attacked AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 vaccine supply “failure” and demanded millions of euros in penalties if the company can’t meet an urgent order for more doses in the latest round of a bitter legal dispute over alleged broken promises by the drugmaker. At a hearing that kicked off on Wednesday, a Belgian court is weighing EU claims that there’s an emergency situation that merits an order for the drug maker to deliver 20 million more shots than it has promised so far by the end of June. The company should pay a fine of 10 euros ($12) a day for overdue vaccines if it can’t comply, a lawyer for the European Commission said in the Brussels Court of First Instance on Wednesday.