[ad_1]
reThe EU Commission is doing its best these days to counter criticism of its “vaccine strategy” with good news. On Friday, the head of authorities, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the EU’s order for 300 million (and thus a total of 600 million) additional doses of the vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer. On Tuesday, the EU’s chief negotiator, Sandra Gallina, who is responsible for negotiations with manufacturers, again announced good news in the European Parliament’s health committee. Swedish-British manufacturer Astra-Zeneca has now also applied for approval of its vaccine to the EU Agency for Medicines Ema. Gallina said she awaited approval on January 29. He also reported on the conclusion of preliminary negotiations with the French-Austrian manufacturer Valneva with the aim of ordering 30 million fixed doses of its vaccine and another 30 million as options.
The EU has also concluded similar preliminary negotiations with the US manufacturer Novavax. Firm orders and options are planned for every 100 million cans. In addition, there is an order for a total of up to 2.3 billion doses – partly fixed, partly as an option – from six manufacturers: Biontech-Pfizer (up to 600 million) and Moderna (160 million), whose vaccine has already been approved, as well as Astra-Zeneca (400 million), Johnson & Johnson (400 million), Curevac (405 million) and Sanofi (300 million).
This volume of orders has been sufficient for all EU citizens. However, for a quick vaccination, speed of delivery is crucial. Regarding the Biontech vaccine, the Brussels authority has so far quite cautiously calculated that the order for 600 million cans will be processed by the end of the year. However, Biontech announced on Monday that by then it would not only be possible to produce 1.3 billion, as previously calculated, but 2 billion cans.
For the EU order, this should mean that the vaccine can be delivered faster than planned, even if neither party wants to commit to the dates. According to information from the commission, it also plays a role that, according to an Ema decision last week, six and not just five doses per ampoule can be inoculated, provided that special needles are used.
Ordered more than the United States
The Commission also expects Astra-Zeneca to be able to produce relatively quickly after approval. The development of his vaccine appeared to be more advanced in the fall. Then there was a setback to the clinical trial phase, which has now been resolved. The vaccine is already being administered in Great Britain. The Johnson & Johnson and Curevac vaccines are expected to be approved in Brussels no later than April.
It is not only because of this positive news that the discussion about the supposed failure of the EU vaccination has calmed down. It also turns out that, contrary to what was accused last week, the EU is not ordering less of the Biontech vaccine than the United States. The United States had already ordered 500 million cans in the summer, but only 100 million of them were repaired, the rest as options. Orders from the EU started later but now amount to the aforementioned 600 million, of which 500 million are firm.
The whole world talks about the coronavirus. All the news and analysis on the spread and control of the pandemic in your email inbox every day.
Germany guaranteed from the beginning of the negotiations that it would buy up to 100 million; otherwise, the order may not have been fulfilled at all. The federal Minister of Health, Jens Spahn (CDU), points out this in a letter dated Monday to all members of the Bundestag. Since the EU has increased its order volume to 600 million cans, Germany is entitled to 108 million cans, which corresponds to the German share of the EU population. There are almost 30 million cans of Moderna. The vaccine from the two manufacturers should be sufficient for all citizens who wish to be vaccinated, but not until the end of the year.
Priority for deliveries to the EU
It is no longer a bilateral additional contract with Biontech-Pfizer, with which Berlin allegedly secured an additional 30 million cans. This contract apparently was never definitively concluded because it would have violated the European summer agreements. It is now part of the larger order of the EU. Gallina made it clear on Tuesday that individual states could only conclude additional contracts with manufacturers when the respective EU order has been exhausted. In any case, it is clear that deliveries to Europe have priority ”.
If the commission ordered even more of the Biontech vaccine, an additional German order would likely not be delivered until 2023 and, from today’s perspective, it would hardly be necessary. In his letter, Spahn no longer refers to the additional German orders, but emphasizes that around 10.1 million doses of the Biontech Pfizer vaccine will be available by the end of March and around 1.8 million doses of Moderna. Two doses of both active ingredients should be vaccinated.
Since the German additional order has “disappeared”, criticism from individual EU states about the alleged German special route has again subsided. On Tuesday, only a few Italian Lega MPs complained that Berlin had tried to use the thicker wallet. Several EU MPs were initially dissatisfied with the fact that they were unable to understand negotiations with manufacturers or contracts in a transparent way. But that should change on Tuesday: the first deputies could see the contracts.
