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New controversy after the European Commission, on Saturday, asked Draghi to review some batches of the serum at a facility in the province of Frosinone. Next, the premier clarifies: the lots “left for Belgium, for the parent company. I don’t know where they will go from there. The surveillance continues for the rest.” The company: “Doses destined for Europe and low-income countries.” Criticisms of many of the 27 on the matter
Tensions over vaccines continue, this time triggered by the new alleged scandal involving AstraZeneca and which then deflated within a few hours. It all started with the news of the inspection by the Italian authorities, on behalf of the European Union, at the Catalent plant in Anagni. There, a stockpile of 29 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine was found that the EU was unaware of. On Saturday, according to Italian sources, the European Commission asked Draghi to review some batches of vaccines at the production plant in the province of Frosinone. Minister Speranza then sent an inspection from the Nas Carabinieri. The inspected lots turned out to be destined for Belgium. The controversy was immediate, partially reduced by the words of the Italian premier: The lots “left for Belgium, for the parent company. I do not know where they will go from there. Meanwhile, the surveillance continues for the rest” (COVID: UPDATES – SPECIAL – VACCINES, EU EXPORT STRICT: COUNTRIES AT RISK).
Dragons: “Excess lots blocked”
deepening
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“On Saturday night I received a phone call from the President of the European Commission pointing out some batches that did not appear in the Commission’s accounts and that would have been stored at the Catalent plant in Anagni, which inflates the vaccines. They suggested that I order inspection. I asked Speranza to send in the Nas, who came immediately and identified the leftover lots in the morning. They were blocked and two of them left, in Belgium, for the headquarters, Astrazeneca ”, Draghi clarified to the Chamber. .
AstraZeneca: “Dosage for Europe and low-income countries”
“Currently there are no exports planned except to the Covax countries,” AstraZeneca said, referring to the international program to support the world’s poor areas. At Anagni “there are 13 million doses of the vaccine awaiting quality control before being shipped to Covax as part of our commitment to supply millions of doses to low-income countries. The vaccine was produced outside the EU and shipped to the Anagni plant to be filled, “notes AstraZeneca, recalling that” the EU fully supports the supply of low- and middle-income countries through the Covax initiative. ” “There are also another 16 million doses pending quality control before shipping to Europe. Almost 10 million doses will be delivered to EU countries during the last week of March and the rest in April, as the doses are approved. . To send after quality control. ” So “it’s not fair to describe this dose pack as a refill,” the company continues. “The vaccine production process is very complex and takes time. In particular – concluded AstraZeneca – the doses must await the authorization of the quality control once the filling is completed ”.
Criticism at the European level
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However, the case has drawn much criticism. “AstraZeneca stores tens of millions of doses without respecting the European contract. This is unacceptable. The urgency is enormous. We should categorically reject any export of AstraZeneca produced in Europe,” the president of the PPE group in Parliament wrote on Twitter. The European Manfred Weber. He then added: “I welcome the Commission’s proposal on strengthening the export authorization mechanism.” Even the Netherlands, in the voice of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, is ready to “block” the export of vaccines “if the EU Commission requests it”. And France attacks: AstraZeneca has fulfilled “almost entirely” its commitments “to Great Britain but not to the European Union” regarding the delivery of vaccines and it is “a completely unacceptable situation. The European Union will not be the laughing stock of the vaccination”.
Johnson to the EU: “Blocking exports would be a boomerang”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also spoke on the matter during a parliamentary committee hearing on EU threats in the field of vaccines. “I just want to point out to anyone considering a blockade of ‘Covid vaccines’ exports or a supply chain disruption, that companies are watching these actions and drawing conclusions” from the case. The conclusions of the pharmaceutical companies, Johnson continued, would be to ask whether or not to make “investments in those countries that impose arbitrary blockades.” Then in the evening, the news that the EU and the UK are close to an agreement in the negotiations that took place in Brussels and have committed to creating the conditions for “a mutually beneficial solution” in the supply of goods. . Covid vaccines.
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