EU, AstraZeneca also approved … The key to secure vaccine supply



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The European Union has officially approved the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford in the UK.

The number of vaccines that can be inoculated has risen to three, but when supplies were cut off due to supply shortages, the European Union introduced restrictions on exports from abroad.

PD Bang Joo-hee complies.

[리포터]

The European Union and the executive committee of the European Commission officially approved the COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed by the multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

It is the third COVID-19 vaccine approved by the EU for conditional use after the vaccine developed by Pfizer-Bioentech and Modena.

The challenge is getting supplies of vaccines.

When AstraZeneca was notified that it could only deliver 40% of the 80 million shipments it decided to supply in the first quarter, the EU demanded to supply a UK produced vaccine, raising the conflict between the two parties.

Vaccines from the US pharmaceutical company Modena are also disrupting supply.

Moderna has decided to cut the supply from France for next month by 25% of the forecast, and has also informed Italy that it will cut the supply by 20%.

Vaccination interruptions in the European Union are intensifying, such as extending the interval between the first and second vaccinations or temporarily suspending vaccines due to lack of vaccine supplies.

The EU Commission has put in place a system that requires pharmaceutical companies to obtain approval from member states when exporting COVID-19 vaccines produced in the EU outside the region.

Pharmaceutical companies must inform the member country where the factory is located before the new export target and the quantity, but if the specified criteria are not met, the member country can block the export of vaccines.

The World Health Organization has raised concerns about the move to restrict exports, saying that vaccines should be shared fairly by all countries.

<테워드로스 아드하놈 거브러여수스 / WHO 사무총장> “Vaccine nationalism may help short-term political goals, but will ultimately lead to myopic and counterproductive consequences.”

Bloomberg News also noted that the EU measure runs the risk of being criticized for protectionism.

This is Joo-hee Bang on Yonhap News TV.

Yonhap News TV article inquiries and reports: katok / line jebo23

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