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“We constantly ask the European Union, and in particular the European Commission, to take more active measures to guarantee the supply of vaccines. It is very important that manufacturers fulfill their contractual obligations. As a result, we support the actions taken by the Commission. , continued pressure on vaccine manufacturers, as well as efforts to promote increased production capacity, “Vice Chancellor Arnoldas Pranckevičius told BNS on Wednesday.
Brussels intends to tighten controls on exports of COVID-19 vaccines from the European Union in the near future. The move targeted AstraZeneca in the UK for failing to fulfill its contractual obligations to the European Union.
Sandra Galina, head of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, says AstraZeneca has delivered less than a quarter of its more than 100 million euros in the first three months of this year. promised doses of vaccine.
As a result, vaccine manufacturers must apply for authorization to ship vaccine shipments out of the block under the EU’s export control mechanism, which was established in late January.
According to EU officials, the revised mechanism will not imply a general export ban, but will support what the president of the European Commission, Urzula von der Lajen, called “the principle of reciprocity.” It will strengthen the Commission’s position on the ban on exports to countries where vaccination is more successful and which produce vaccines but do not export them to the EU.
The leaders of the European Union also intend to discuss this issue at the summit on Thursday and Friday.
EU member states disagree on whether to toughen the export ban. Some see this as a way to encourage pharmaceutical companies to respect supply schedules to Europe, while others fear that an export ban could provoke retaliation.
Only approved vaccines are included in the vaccination certificate.
A. Pranckevičius states that Lithuania supports the European Commission’s idea of creating an immunization certificate before the beginning of summer, which will allow people who have been vaccinated, become ill or have a negative COVID-19 test to travel for free.
“The positions of many member states are converging, in general we have not heard any opposition from principle in principle yet, there is probably more mischief in the details, it is important to agree on them. “We look forward to more constructive discussions between member states,” the politician said.
According to him, Lithuania takes the position that only vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency (EEA) should be included in the certificate.
“It just came to our attention then. (…) Our position is that only EVA licensed vaccines should be recognized in that certificate for intra-community travel. Our main argument is safety, predictability and the health of citizens”, said A. Pranckevičius.
Lithuanian Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius previously told the BNS that common rules in the Community would apply to vaccines approved by the European Medicines Agency.
Nationally approved vaccines, such as Sputinik V in Hungary, could also be included in the certificate, but decisions on restrictions for travelers vaccinated with such products would be made by the parties individually.
The redistribution mechanism will depend on the supply
Mr Pranckevičius says that a possible redistribution mechanism is still being debated in the European Union.
“It is difficult to say if there will be such a mechanism or not. The proposal itself is new and fresh, the executives have not had the opportunity to talk about it yet, they will only do so at the end of this week. (…) So far , no negative reactions have been heard, “said the deputy minister.
However, he emphasized that the redistribution mechanism was based on voluntary self-determination, and that the vaccine supply was not stable across Europe, “so far there are not many Member States that can do it.”
In early March, the health ministers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia appealed to the EC to suggest that the accumulation of surplus unused vaccines in one of the EU member states could be redistributed to other countries, which are in process.
The ministers also called for the creation of a special circumstances mechanism that could justify exceptions to proportional distribution and temporarily encourage delivery to those member states that most urgently need it.
According to the ministers, this should be done on the basis of “clear and transparent criteria such as the availability of vaccines, the level of vaccination, the frequency of cases, mortality and the prevalence of new mutations.”
According to V. Pranckevičius, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Latvia and Slovenia are currently facing the most problems. Your requests for assistance will also be considered by the European Council.
“Their vaccine portfolio has been less successful than in other Member States. They lack vaccines,” said the politician.
Vaccination in Lithuania is currently carried out with vaccines from three manufacturers: BioNTech and Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca. They have vaccinated at least the first dose of 288.7 thousand in the country. people.
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