Berlin talking to Washington on COVID vaccines from U.S.

FILE PHOTO: A vial with AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine is prepared during a vaccination of teachers and nursery teachers, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Grevesmuehlen, Germany, March 5, 2021. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer

Berlin is holding bilateral talks with Washington about missing shipments of COVID-19 vaccines manufactured in the United States, a German government spokesman said on Friday.

Washington has told the European Union that it should not expect to receive AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines manufactured in the United States any time soon, two EU sources said on Thursday, in a new blow to the bloc's supplies.

Steffen Seibert told a regular government news conference that the EU supplies more than 30 countries with vaccine doses, including the United States, and noted this was not the case for the United States.

"This is also an issue the government is addressing in bilateral talks," Seibert said.

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Caroline Copley, editing by Kirsti Knolle)