London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

COVID-19: AstraZeneca boss says UK could have vaccinated 30 million people by March

COVID-19: AstraZeneca boss says UK could have vaccinated 30 million people by March

Delays in vaccine supply have sparked a row between two pharmaceutical firms, the UK and the European Union.

AstraZeneca's chief executive has said the UK's target of vaccinating the top four priority groups against COVID-19 by mid-February will be possible.

In an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Pascal Soriot said: "By March, the UK will have vaccinated maybe 28 to 30 million people.

"The prime minister has a goal to vaccinate 15 million people by mid-February, and they're already at 6.5 million. So they will get there."

There had been claims made by the EU there were "glitches" in the supply chain of the coronavirus vaccines to the bloc - and that deliveries to Europe were delayed over those to the UK.

Mr Soriot admitted there had been "teething problems" but he said his teams had been "working around the clock" to fix them.

He also said the fact that the UK supply contract was signed three months before the European vaccine deal, meant there had been "an extra three months to fix all the UK glitches we experienced".

And, touching on news that initial supply volumes of the vaccine to the EU would be lower than forecast, he said he understood the "frustration" but that it was due to a "lower than anticipated production yield impacting the number of doses produced per batch".

He added: "We continue to work with our supply partners to optimise this process to ensure the vaccine is produced at the scale and pace required, while retaining the highest quality standards."

However, shortly after expressing his understanding of the EU concerns, it was reported that AstraZeneca had pulled out of a planned meeting with EU representatives on Wednesday. The company denied the claims though - and said it was still scheduled.


Pascal Soriot is chief executive of AstraZeneca


The EU has said all companies producing COVID vaccines in the EU would have to provide "early notification" when exporting to third countries.

This move could in turn affect the UK's supply of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which is made in Belgium, but both Prime Minister Boris Johnson and vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said they were confident supply would not be interrupted.

UK leads in total vaccination doses relative to its population compared to European countries

Doses administered per 100 people


SOURCE: Our World in Data • Data updated: 26 Jan 2021 / 1045 UTC


Mr Soriot said his company's global capacity is about 100 million vaccine doses a month, adding that most vaccines have a capacity of 100 million doses a year.

"Of course, we are ramping up production and Europe is getting 17% of this global production in February for a population that is 5% of the world population...We are in the ramp-up phase and basically it will improve, but it takes time."

"I'm European, I have Europe at heart... Many people in the management are European. So we want to treat Europe as best we can.

"You know, we do this at no profit, remember? We didn't go into this to try and make money or whatever. We would like to treat Europe as good as possible. I actually do believe we treated Europe fairly."

AstraZeneca said last week it would cut supplies of the vaccine - developed with Oxford University - to the EU in the first quarter of 2021, citing production problems.

A senior EU official said at the time this meant a 60% reduction to 31 million doses.

In August last year, the bloc agreed to purchase 300 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine for €750m, with an option for an additional 100 million.

Britain secured 100 million doses in May 2020, costing £84m.

Mr Soriot added that AstraZeneca was also working with Oxford University on a vaccine that will target the South African variant of COVID-19.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×