Moderna will be sending less vaccines to Italy and France

Moderna (Nasdaq: MRNA) has cut shipments of vaccine doses to France and Italy, taking yet another blow against the EU's struggling COVID-19 vaccination efforts. Italian special envoy for pandemic control, Domenico Arcuri, said the company has informed Rome that it will be delivering 20% ​​fewer doses than planned from the beginning of February. The French Ministry of Health also announced that it expected 25% fewer doses of Moderna than planned from the beginning of February. Moderna's supply cuts are the latest disruptions to disrupt vaccination efforts in the EU. AstraZeneca has also announced that it will only ship half of the vaccines ordered by the EU in the first quarter. This provoked a dispute over the terms of the contract with the Italian Prime Minister Guiseppe Conte, who accused AstraZeneca of a breach of contract. Guiseppe said the reduction in shipments was unexpected and Italy was considering taking legal action against the company. After the dispute, the European Commission went ahead and published a blackened company of the pre-sale or supply agreement. Arcuri said Friday that forecast deliveries would change almost every day. He emphasized Italy's disappointment, concern and amazement at the cuts in vaccine deliveries. Moderna told Arcuri it will be delivering 132,000 doses of vaccine as of the week that begins February 9, rather than the 166,000 doses the government was expecting. On the other hand, the French Ministry of Health said it was expecting around 600,000 doses of vaccine in February, instead of the 800,000 doses it was expecting. Pfizer / BioNTech has already cut vaccine shipments to France by 200,000 doses from the 2.6 million doses originally promised. Authorities in France have ordered health facilities to postpone the first COVID-19 vaccination for up to four weeks in order to keep the doses for people who need the second and final vaccination. In addition to Italy and France, the Spanish regions of Catalonia, Valencia, Andalusia and Madrid have also voiced their concerns about delays in the delivery of the Moderna vaccine. The Spanish health minister said they expected 52,000 Moderna vaccine doses in the coming week. So far, Spain has received 35,700 cans of Moderna.