Mr Urban then compared the EU contract with AstraZeneca to the UK’s, and claimed Britain has also had a shortfall of deliveries despite Brussels suggesting the firm “prioritised the UK”.
He said: “Under its contract with the UK Government, the company had said it would aim to deliver 30 million doses by the end of 2020.
“In fact, AZ managed four million ready for when for when the UK regulator cleared AstraZeneca for use on January 4 this year.
“The supply of AZ has picked up considerably since then, but on what we can learn from a somewhat opaque process, the UK has now administered about 15 million doses of this vaccine, and taken delivery of 20 million or thereabouts so far.
“That’s 20 million out of a total 100 million doses ordered, and originally meant to be delivered by the end of June.
“So while the EU can say it’s only had a fraction of what AstraZeneca contracted, the UK is actually in a similar position.
“It’s only had a fraction too, just a slightly bigger one.”