The EU has committed to buying 300 million AstraZeneca doses with option on 100 million extra shots. Late last week, the company said it was planning to reduce a first contingent of 80 million to 31 million. The commission insists it is basically to monitor whether companies respect their commitments to the EU. Both AstraZeneca and Pfizer have vaccines made in the EU. The biggest EU member state was firmly behind von der Leyen's view — and batted away any suggestion the EU was looking for special treatment.

Source: Daily Sun January 26, 2021 15:11 UTC