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The pace is slow, compared to the US and UK average, but Brussels expects an acceleration in the second quarter of the year. The Commission expects at least 106 million doses to be delivered by the end of the first quarter of 2021, with AstraZeneca long overdue: only 30 million out of 120 that had been guaranteed to the EU, compared to 66 million of the 65 million of Pfizer-Biontech and 10 million of the 10 million of Moderna.
The gap should widen in the second quarter, when the EU expects a total of 360 million doses: 200 million from Pfizer-Biontech, 35 million from Moderna, 55 million from Johnson & Johnson and, indeed, only 70 million of the 180 planned by AstraZeneca. So far, 18.2 million people have been fully immunized against the disease caused by the coronavirus Sars-CoV-2, with two doses of the vaccine, 18.2 million people, which is equivalent to 4.1% of the total EU population.
Tighten the EU, five countries worried
Pending clarification with the company, the tightening of exports introduced by the EU appears to be holding the stage at the EU summit. After another short-circuit with AstraZeneca, the 29 million “hidden” doses in Anagni (Frosinone), the Commission has approved a further tightening of the authorization mechanism for sales beyond the EU borders of vaccines produced in Europe. The tool has been strengthened by adding the principles of “reciprocity” (exporting to countries that do the same, with reversed parts), proportionality (epidemiological situation and proportion of the population already vaccinated) and security of supplies (how much the supplies amount to. the real needs of the EU).
The solution did not convince everyone. Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Ireland would be expressing “concern” and would ask to evaluate the use of the EU mechanism to authorize the export of vaccines with extreme caution, exempting companies that have complied with their obligations. Among the five leaders there is a fear that it could damage the supply chain, considering that some ingredients needed for vaccines are imported from abroad (and from the UK itself, at least in the case of the drug Pfizer / Biontech).
Dragons: Europeans feel cheated by some pharmaceutical companies
In his speech to the European Council, President Mario Draghi allegedly argued that the EU should not remain defenseless in the face of non-compliance by the pharmaceutical giants. Based on what he learned in Brussels, Draghi said that European citizens feel misled by some pharmaceutical companies. The prime minister added that the absolute priority must be not to make mistakes during the economic recovery and that an adequate “fiscal policy framework” must be designed, as well as promoting the creation of a common European title. “I know the road is long, but we have to start walking. It is a long-term goal, but it is important to have a political commitment. Draghi also reviewed the history of the AstraZeneca vaccines stored in Anagni, obtaining from the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the reassurance that “the doses produced in the EU will go to the EU”.
