Belgian health authorities – at the request of the European Commission – conducted “an inspection” of AstraZeneca’s Belgian production facility Wednesday “to ensure that the delay in the delivery of the vaccines is indeed due to a production problem at the Belgian site,” France Dammel, spokesperson for Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said in a statement.

“Belgian experts are looking into the elements obtained during this inspection visit, together with Dutch, Italian and Spanish experts,” Dammel said, adding that the report is expected in a few days.

Last week, AstraZeneca told the European Commission and EU member states that it intends to supply the bloc with fewer vaccine doses than previously agreed.

In June 2020 AstraZeneca entered into a partnership with French manufacturing company Novasep to produce its vaccine supply.

German vaccine commission recommends AstraZeneca's vaccine should not be given to people over 65

Germany's vaccine commission has recommended that the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford should not be given to people over 65 years old, the German Interior Ministry said Thursday in a statement.

According to the statement, a study by the Standing Committee on Vaccination at Germany’s Robert Koch Institute has found there is insufficient data on the effectiveness of the vaccine for this age group.