Bloc may receive only half of purchased 100m doses in first quarter of the year
The EU has threatened to block exports of coronavirus vaccines to countries outside the bloc such as Britain, after AstraZeneca was accused of failing to give a satisfactory explanation for a huge shortfall of promised doses to member states.
The pharmaceutical company’s new distribution plans were said to be “unacceptable” after it “surprisingly” informed the European commission on Friday that there would be significant shortfalls on the original schedule.
The EU has been due to receive 100m doses in the first quarter of this year. But it is feared that the bloc will only receive half of that despite making large advance purchases ahead of authorisation of the vaccine by the European medicines agency.
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Update #1: Brussels plans controls on vaccine exports amid AstraZeneca dispute (Politico)
Update #2: EU threatens to block exports of Pfizer Covid vaccine (The Telegraph)
Update #3: EU threatens export controls on covid vaccines amid supply row (Evening Standard)
WNU Editor: This threat to block Covid vaccine exports could shape up to be a disaster. Canada is receiving no vaccines this week and is dependent on the Pfizer vaccine .... Fact check: how provinces are handling the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine stoppage (CBC), as well as the U.K. .... Brexit war over vaccines: Brussels threat to UK vaccine supplies after it demands Pfizer informs them of non-EU exports as regulator ‘plans to reject use of Oxford jab for over-65s’ after German claim it is only 8% effective in pensioners (Daily Mail).
This is outrageous, and all too predictable. The EU Covid-19 vaccine program was flagged earlier as a mess, and we are now seeing how these politicians and bureaucrats are reacting (see below).
COVID-19: EU vaccine rollout has been a mess - and AstraZeneca row adds another layer of tension (SKY News)
The EU’s vaccine catastrophe is a crisis of its own making (American Spectator)
