The European Commission said AstraZeneca will deliver 9 million additional doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in the first quarter, amid a bitter row with AstraZeneca over a shortfall in the supply of COVID-19 shots.  

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared it a "step forward" on Sunday, saying 40 million doses in total have been promised, which was better than a previous offer, but still far below the 100 million doses initially expected. 

Von der Leyen said deliveries would start one week earlier than scheduled.  

"The company will also expand its manufacturing capacity in Europe," she added.  

European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides called it "encouraging news."

It was not immediately clear if the additional doses would come from within the bloc or from manufacturing sites in the United Kingdom.  

The news came after a week of clashes between the EU and AstraZeneca over a shortfall in vaccine deliveries, which led to multiple video conferences and the publication of their redacted contract as both sides tried to prove they were in the right.    

It also came as Brussels grapples with an escalating public relations crisis over new rules that require companies to get permission before shipping COVID-19 jabs outside the bloc.  

The "Europe first" tactics triggered a global backlash over the weekend, with Canada and Japan lodging complaints with the European Commission.  

In what was seen as a major blunder, Brussels initially said it would extend the export controls to Northern Ireland by triggering an emergency clause in the Brexit deal, known as Article 16. This would have introduced checks at the Irish border, with some fearing it could jeopardize the Good Friday Agreement.   

European officials were forced to quickly backtrack after a flurry of angry phone calls from Dublin and London.   

On Sunday, the UK trade minister Liz Truss told Sky News that Brussels had given Downing Street assurances that shipments of pre-ordered vaccines would not be disrupted and that the country’s vaccine plan remained on track.   

"It's vital we keep borders open and we resist vaccine nationalism and we resist protectionism," she said. "We have received assurances from the EU about the supply under contract of all of those vaccines." 

AstraZeneca is not the only vaccine-maker not delivering on its promises. On Friday, Moderna told Italy and France it would deliver fewer doses of its vaccine in February. Pfizer had also announced delays.  

Europe has been left scrambling to get jabs into people's arms. Just 2.73 doses per 100 people have been administered, compared with 13.26 in the U.K. and 9.3 in the U.S..  Germany, Spain, Italy and Portugal have warned of shortages with some regions forced to halt new immunizations altogether.  

France and Germany on Sunday threatened legal action against any company that failed to deliver vaccines on time. 

"If it turns out that companies have not met their obligations, we will have to decide on legal consequences," Germany's Economics Minister Peter Altmaier said in an interview with the daily Die Welt. "No company can favor another country over the EU after the fact," he added. 

On Sunday, the European Commisson president held a video conference with the CEOs of BioNTech/Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Curevac, and Sanofi.  While they didn't discuss the current shortfall in supply, a readout of the meeting said they talked about preparing for new variants and future pandemic-type threats.  

The commission said it would launch a pilot program to fund the design and development of vaccines and scale-up manufacturing, so it can be better prepared in the future.