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| - Pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca announced on Wednesday that it will partner with Germany's IDT Biologika to produce more Covid-19 vaccine doses for use in Europe. The two companies are "exploring options" to accelerate output of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the second quarter of 2021, the Anglo-Swedish company said in a statement. The announcement from the vaccine manufacturer follows controversy over deliveries of the AstraZeneca jab to the European Union which has caused tensions between Brussels and London. AstraZeneca said following the decision by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to approve the shot, the shipping of 17 million doses, which began on February 5, would continue in the coming weeks. The delivery of further doses is planned for March, the pharmaceutical group added in the statement. The agreement will see both companies invest to increase capacity at a production site in Dessau, eastern Germany to produce millions of doses per month by the end of 2022. The investment, the details of which have not yet been disclosed, could also allow for the manufacturing of coronavirus vaccines produced by other pharmaceutical companies. The plans will give IDT Biologika among the largest vaccine manufacturing capacities in Europe. "This agreement will greatly help Europe build an independent vaccine manufacturing capability that will allow it to meet the challenges of the current pandemic and create strategic supply capacity for the future," AstraZeneca's chief executive Pascal Soriot said. "I would like to thank the German Federal Government and the European Commission for their support in our efforts," he added. The AstraZeneca vaccine, developed with researchers from Oxford University, had earlier garnered praise because of its low cost relative to its rivals and the ease of storage - a regular refrigerator can be used to store the vaccine. But since then it has suffered a number of setbacks. The jab was temporarily excluded from South Africa's immunisation campaign over questions about its effectiveness against a new strain of the disease first identified in the country. There have also been concerns in some parts of Europe over using the AstraZeneca vaccine on the elderly. However on Wednesday WHO vaccine experts recommended the AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine for use on people aged over 65 and in settings where variants of the virus are circulating. csp/pvh
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