EU won’t renew contracts with J&J and AstraZeneca

The European Union Commission has decided not to renew coronavirus vaccine contracts next year with AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson (J&J),

According to the Italian daily, La Stampa, the EU Commission, in agreement with the leaders of many (EU) countries, has decided not to renew the contracts with the firms that produce vaccines. The contracts are valid for the current year.

Furthermore, it added that Brussels would rather focus on coronavirus vaccines using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, such as Pfizer’s and Moderna’s.

A spokesman for the EU Commission announced it was keeping all options open to be prepared for the next stages of the pandemic for 2022 and beyond.

The Italian health ministry refused to comment.

The European Commission seeks clarification from J&J about the company’s “completely unexpected” announcement of delays in coronavirus vaccine deliveries to the European Union.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine constituted only 5% of all vaccinations in the U.S

The Biden administration announced on April 13 that it had plenty of doses of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, making assurances just hours after many states stopped administering the J&J vaccine over concerns of blood clotting.

According to White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients, they have plenty of supply. Jeff is calling the remaining two vaccines now in the nation’s arsenal clearly safe.

Zients promised that the administration was committed to reaching 200 million vaccinations by Biden’s 100th day in office, which comes at the end of April. Earlier, Zients remarked that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine constituted only 5% of all vaccinations in the U.S., with Pfizer and Moderna accounting for the rest.

Tuesday’s development was the most challenging. Although the reports of blood clotting were found only in six women out of 6.8 million shots administered, one of those women died. However, risk perception can be difficult to manage, and the mere suggestion of serious side effects could be enough to scare people away from getting vaccinated.