Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has agreed to supply nine million additional doses of its coronavirus vaccine to the European Union (EU) during the first quarter, the bloc’s executive arm said.

The new target of 40m doses by the end of March is still only half of what the British-Swedish company had originally aimed for before it announced a shortfall due to production problems, triggering a spat between AstraZeneca and the EU last week.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after a call with seven vaccine makers that AstraZeneca will also begin deliveries one week sooner than scheduled and expand its manufacturing capacity in Europe.