Eric Mamer, spokesman for EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, said the bloc was focused on “making sure that companies deliver on their commitments to the member states” rather than restricting movement of doses to third countries.
The European Commission insisted on Monday it was not set on “banning vaccine exports” amid an escalating row over supplies that has threatened to derail vaccination efforts across the continent.
There is growing frustration on the continent that the EU is not getting the supplies it expected from AstraZeneca.
Boris Johnson spoke with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and French president, Emmanuel Macron, on Monday in a bid to end the stand-off.
The EU leaders are to hold a virtual summit on Thursday where the matter will be debated further.
It left officials simultaneously demanding assurances on future vaccine supply while doses were going unused.
After confirmation from the European medicines regulator that the AstraZeneca jab was safe, countries began administering doses again, though with France still opting to impose a restriction for the over 55s.
Sweden, Norway and Denmark, which was the first country to pause using AstraZeneca, said they would wait another week before deciding whether to resume.
Is the vaccine safe?
The World Health Organisation, which has urged vaccinations to continue, said on Friday that more than 20 million doses of the vaccine had been given to European citizens.
The rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine has been affected by reports of possible harmful effects centering on blood clotting.
But the European Medicines Agency and the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency have concluded it is safe and effective and that the benefits outweigh any potential risks.
On Monday, data from a US-led trial showed the vaccine is 79 per cent effective at preventing Covid-19 and offers 100 per cent protection against severe disease.
An independent data safety monitoring board also identified no safety concerns relating to the vaccine.
Should you worry about the AstraZeneca vaccine?
What has the EU said?
Last week, Ms von der Leyen grabbed headlines when she threatened to restrict exports of Covid vaccines to the UK and other countries in an effort to safeguard jabs for its own citizens, as parts of the continent face a third wave of the pandemic.
She said the bloc would use “whatever tool” it needed to ensure doses reached its citizens, including seizing production of vaccines.
“We want reliable deliveries of vaccines, we want an increase in the contracts, we want to see reciprocity and proportionality in exports, and we are ready to use whatever tool we need to deliver on that,” she said.
“This is about making sure that Europe gets its fair share.”
Over the weekend, in an interview with Germany’s Funke Media Group, she repeated that warning: “We have the possibility to forbid planned exports. That is the message to AstraZeneca: You fulfill your contract with Europe before you start delivering to other countries.”
However, speaking on Monday in Brussels, Ms von der Leyen’s spokesman, Mr Mamer, appeared to soften the EU’s stance.
While he said “the president has given our view of what the situation is and what are the objectives that we are following”, he added: “This is not about banning vaccine exports, this is about making sure that companies deliver on their commitments to the member states and the European Union that are inscribed in the contracts that they have with us.
“Therefore, this is our objective, to make sure that the contracts that we have signed are respected.
“In that context, the president has said that, of course, we see that, actually, companies that manufacture doses in the EU have been exporting very widely – which is in itself a good thing – but that we want to see reciprocity and proportionality in these exports.”
