Scotland to publish vaccine supply data amid EU row with AstraZeneca

Reuters
·1 min read
Scottish First Minister Sturgeon attends a session at the Parliament in Edinburgh

LONDON (Reuters) - Scotland will publish COVID-19 detailed vaccine supply data next week even though the British government has so far refused to do so amid a row between the European Union and drug companies such as AstraZeneca over delayed deliveries.

Europe's fight to secure vaccines intensified on Thursday when the EU warned drug companies that it would use all legal means or even block exports unless they agreed to deliver shots as promised.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, fielding questions about the pace of the vaccine rollout, said that vaccine supply data would be published from next week even though the British government had demanded it not publish such data.

"I think we'll just go back to publishing the actual supply figures from next week, so that we all have transparency around that," Sturgeon told the Scottish parliament on Thursday.

The EU's contract with AstraZeneca for its COVID-19 vaccine contains binding orders, EU Commision Head Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday, demanding a plausible explanation from the drugmaker for delivery hold-ups.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Alistair Smout)