Trade Minister Dan Tehan discussed the standoff with his Brussels counterpart Valdis Dombrovskis on Friday night but the European Commission has no plans to step back from its dispute with the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
Australia has reached its second vaccine milestone with the country's first AstraZeneca COVID-19 jabs to be poked into South Australian arms today.
The community of Murray Bridge will lead the nation in the rollout of the new vaccine with one thousand doses arriving into regional South Australia today.
A frontline health worker in the town will become the first person in the country to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Germany's independent Standing Committee on Vaccination (Stiko) said on Thursday that the AstraZeneca vaccine can be administered to older people.
Germany had originally balked at approving the vaccine for those aged 65 and over due to efficacy concerns.
However, new data — and quite possibly the faltering national attempts to start vaccinating — caused German health authorities to change their minds.
The European Commission and Italy have blocked a shipment of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine destined for Australia after the pharmaceutical company did not fulfil its European Union contract commitments, sources said on Thursday.
It is the first time the EU has employed an export control mechanism it set up to ensure drug manufacturers respect their contracts.
The sources said AstraZeneca had reportedly requested authorization from the Italian government to export some 250,000 doses from its Anagni plant, close to Rome. The site is owned by US group Catalent.
