The United States and the EU will work closely on vaccine delivery

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Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the US president said at tonight’s European Council meeting that the US and the European Commission will work closely together to remove any bottlenecks that delay vaccine production and delivery.

During a lull in the Council’s discussions, Micheál Martin said that Joe Biden’s intervention was very positive and indicated a “new era” in relations between the EU and the United States.

“President Biden made a very strong presentation to the Council to renew and reestablish in the strongest possible way the transatlantic partnership,” he said.

The Taoiseach also said that there is consensus in the Council on the urgent need to increase production and have a steady supply of vaccines in the second quarter.

And there was also agreement on the need to keep supply chains open, he said.

He added that there is a shared view on the importance of export authorization mechanisms, particularly in the context of AstraZeneca and companies that do not comply with their contracts.

“People welcome the fact that the UK and Europe are now engaged in a process to work together in terms of that issue and indeed the broader issue of keeping those supply chains open,” he said.

Ursula von der Leyen

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen released updated figures showing Europe as the world’s largest exporter of Covid-19 vaccines, chiding the UK’s accusations of vaccine “nationalism”.

The president of the European Commission presented the figures at a video summit of EU leaders that took place a day after her European Commission tightened rules on the authorization of vaccine shipments outside the bloc.

In two tweets, he showed that the European Union had exported around 77 million doses of vaccines to 33 countries since December.

“Additionally, as Covax’s lead donor, it has contributed to exports to low- and middle-income countries,” Ms Von der Leyen tweeted, referring to the World Health Organization-backed initiative that provides vaccines.

An EU official told AFP that the total exports included about 21 million doses sent to Britain, which in turn had sent zero doses to the European Union.

The published data also showed, for comparison purposes, vaccine deliveries in the European Union.

By the end of this week, 88 million doses will have been administered in the 27-nation bloc, with 62 million injections performed and 18.2 million people (4.1% of the EU population of 450 million) fully vaccinated with two injections.

The charts underscore the slow start of vaccination rollout in Europe, with around 100 million doses supplied in the first quarter by three vaccine manufacturers: 66 million from BioNTech / Pfizer, 10 million from Moderna, and just 30 million (out of 120 million contracted) from AstraZeneca. .

“While remaining open, the EU must ensure that Europeans receive a fair share of vaccines,” Ms Von der Leyen tweeted.

The estimates it published for the second quarter showed that 360 million doses should be delivered to the EU: 200 million from BioNTech / Pfizer, 35 million from Moderna, 70 million from AstraZeneca (of the 180 million originally promised) and 55 million from Johnson. & Johnson.

Britain fears that an EU export authorization scheme for vaccines leaving the bloc could hamper vaccine rollout, which faces headwinds after three months of acceleration.

AstraZeneca is the focus of the dispute between Brussels and London.

The Anglo-Swedish company is the mainstay of the UK rollout and was supposed to have been the kickoff for Europe’s effort in the first quarter, but it came too short.

Both parties claim AstraZeneca’s production from a plant in the Netherlands that is about to be authorized to operate.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has accused Brussels of wanting to violate contract law and jeopardize the EU’s reputation for openness by tightening the export authorization mechanism.

However, yesterday both parties issued a joint statement in which they spoke of the need to cooperate, given their interdependencies in the production of vaccines, to achieve a “win-win” result.

European Union leaders held a video conference today to discuss the worsening Covid-19 situation in Europe, as well as the European Commission’s decision to restrict vaccine exports in an attempt to improve security of supply for citizens. Europeans.

US President Joe Biden also joined the summit tonight to discuss EU-US relations.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin would join several other leaders in rejecting any export restrictions due to the risk of a growing vaccine trade war.

Any export will be subject to new criteria related to the country that ordered the vaccines.

The Commission says the export could be reviewed if the country already has a high proportion of its population vaccinated, if the coronavirus situation is not serious and if the country has not allowed exports of vaccines to the EU.

Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Belgium have serious concerns that such a move could spark a trade war that would wreak havoc on long-established but fragile vaccine supply chains.

However, other countries insist that the EU, which exports more vaccines worldwide than anyone else, must start thinking about its own citizens.

Leaders will not be asked to vote on the measure, already provisionally applied, at today’s summit.

Speaking in parliament before the summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: “British production sites are manufacturing for Britain and the United States is not exporting, so we are dependent on what we can do in Europe.

“We have to assume that the virus, with its mutations, may occupy us for a long time, so the question goes well beyond this year.”

In addition, he said that more work had to be done to ensure that the rest of the world received vaccines, otherwise new mutations would continue to appear, some of which could prove resistant to vaccines.

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Last night, the European Commission and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement in which they said they would work together in the short, medium and long term to ensure that citizens on both sides could obtain vaccines.

One supplier, AstraZeneca, is still locked in a dispute over a large deficit in deliveries to the EU, apparently because it has fulfilled its contract with the UK first.

Diplomats say that despite the problems so far, there should be a sharp increase in supply in the second quarter of this year, with the EU receiving 300 million doses as bottlenecks are eased and put into operation. new vaccines.

Former EU Ambassador to Washington David O’Sullivan has said the joint UK-EU statement on vaccines is very encouraging and underlines the interdependence of countries on vaccines and should lead to a dialogue. productive and mutually beneficial.

Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr O’Sullivan said that the UK is interested in the rest of the EU being able to accelerate the deployment of vaccines and that a “very, very significant increase” in vaccines in the EU is expected by the second trimester.

He said the fact that the UK has benefited from importing 10 million vaccines from the EU is likely a factor in their decision to enter into more productive discussions.

Latest coronavirus stories

Later, Biden will address the 27 leaders via video link as Washington and Brussels demonstrate repairing ties after the diplomatic battles of the Donald Trump years.

On the eve of the summit, President Biden’s top diplomat Antony Blinken concluded a two-day visit to Brussels after speaking with NATO ministers and senior EU officials, promising close coordination.

Leaders will also consider diplomatic and economic incentives today to encourage the southeast’s strategic neighbor, Turkey, to continue to improve the often strained ties with the EU and promote stability.

Relations with Ankara are on the table after an alarming surge in tension last year over Turkey’s gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.

European Council President Charles Michel, who is chairing the meeting, said the bloc wants to intensify “engagement with Turkey in a gradual, conditional and reversible manner.”

The EU is trying to take advantage of the recent conciliatory measures by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and has suspended sanctions for drilling in Cypriot waters.

Brussels has been encouraged by the resumption of talks with Greece over a disputed maritime border and by plans to restart United Nations peace efforts for the divided EU member state Cyprus.

But there is deep concern about Ankara’s recent moves to shut down an opposition party and its exit from a treaty on violence against women.

Additional information Tony Connelly, AFP



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