Welsh AstraZeneca vaccine facilities not disrupted by flooding, Wockhardt UK says (updated)

Wockhardt

21/01/2021 09:37

(Recasts with company statement, council leader)
    LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The manufacture of AstraZeneca
and Oxford's COVID-19 vaccine has not been disrupted by flooding
near a Welsh factory involved in the supply chain, manufacturing
partner Wockhardt said on Thursday, adding the site was
operating as normal.
    "Last night at approximately 1600 (GMT) hours, Wockhardt UK
experienced mild flooding, resulting in excess water surrounding
part of the buildings across site," the company said in a
statement.
    "All necessary precautions were taken meaning no disruption
to manufacturing or inlet of water into buildings. The site is
now secure and free from any further flood damage and operating
as normal."
    Wockhardt UK provides fill-and-finish capacity for
AstraZeneca's UK supply chain, which is the final manufacturing
step of putting vaccines into vials or syringes and packaging
them. 
    AstraZeneca has agreed to supply Britain with 100 million
doses of the vaccine, developed by Oxford University.
    Storm Christoph has caused widespread flooding in England
and Wales. Wrexham Council leader Mark Pritchard said that local
authorities had deployed gullies and pumps to divert water away
from the facilities.    
    "They were under pressure. They had serious concerns that
their warehouse, logistically, could be flooded," he told Sky
News. "We worked through the night with them... and we've been
successful. But it has been difficult."

 (Reporting by Alistair Smout and Michael Holden; editing by Guy
Faulconbridge)
 ((alistair.smout@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 542 7064; Reuters
Messaging: alistair.smout.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))