European Commission says AstraZeneca's explanations for delays in Covid-19 vaccine delivery are 'insufficient'

The reduction in supplies to EU countries means Ireland's expected share of 600 thousand doses before the end of March would be halved.

EU officials have said Astrazeneca's plants based in the UK will need to share production of vaccines with member states.

The company says the delays are due to the EU signing a deal three months after Britain.

But that explanation's been dismissed by Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, "We reject the logic of first come first served. That may work at the neighbourhood butchers but not in contracts and not in our advanced purchase agreements. There's no priority clause in the advanced purchase agreement."