KEY POINTS
  • The EU's vaccination program has been sluggish at best, and looking vulnerable to supply shortages.
  • The export controls are expected to last until the end of March.
  • The European Medicines Agency on Friday approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for emergency use in the bloc, about a month after it was first given the greenlight in the U.K.

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President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen talks to media in the Berlaymont, the EU Commission headquarters.

LONDON — The European Union on Friday placed temporary controls on the export of coronavirus vaccines made inside the bloc, following a spat with British pharma giant AstraZeneca and wider supply issues.

It has been dealt two massive blows recently with Pfizer saying it would be temporarily lowering production while it upgraded its production capacity at its Belgian plant. Last week, AstraZeneca also said it would be delivering far fewer doses to the EU in the spring than initially expected, due to production issues at its plants in the Netherlands and Belgium.

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