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Germany has called on the EU to restrict vaccine exports, as growing opposition to AstraZeneca and unhappy vaccination campaigns have started raising fears of prolonged austerity restrictions across the bloc.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn said in an interview with ZDF on Tuesday that it would be “prudent” to restrict exports of vaccines produced in the EU. Vaccines leaving the EU “need permission to at least know what is being produced in Europe and what is leaving Europe, where it is going and if it is being distributed fairly,” he said.
The comments came after the European Commission announced Monday that it would require drug makers to pre-label coronavirus vaccines for export. The so-called “transparency mechanism” was introduced after AstraZeneca announced delays in scheduled deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines.
Christian Drosten and Jens Spahn
According to the EU executive, this means that far fewer vaccines will be delivered this quarter than was agreed in the advance vaccine purchase agreement, which both parties concluded last summer. The disruption followed a production failure at the Pfizer plant in Belgium, which had already reduced deliveries of vaccines to EU countries last week.
Such knowledge threatens to disrupt the EU vaccination campaign, which lags behind the United States and Great Britain in terms of the proportion of the population vaccinated.
Even the bloc’s leader, Denmark, has so far vaccinated only 3.6 people per 100 inhabitants, just a third the rate of Great Britain and half the rate of vaccination in the United States. The big EU countries are even further behind: Germany, for example, has vaccinated only 2.1 out of 100 people.
The United Kingdom warns the European Union
The British minister in charge of vaccination warned the EU not to succumb to “vaccine nationalism” and said he was confident the UK will achieve its goal of vaccinating all the most vulnerable groups by mid-February, despite disruptions. supply.
“I am very confident that we will receive our vaccines as planned,” Nadhim Zahawi said on LBC radio on Tuesday in response to the EU proposal, which could cut off Pfizer vaccine deliveries. “Vaccine nationalism is not the way to go.”
© Imago / Scanpix
EU regulators have proposed a “transparency mechanism” to control the volume of vaccines exported from the EU to third countries. Such a move would adversely affect the delivery of doses of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE vaccines manufactured in Belgium.
“I have no doubt that the delivery of the vaccines will meet the schedule for us. Vaccine nationalism is not the right solution,” Zahawi told LBC Radio on Tuesday.
The UK leads Europe in terms of vaccination rates against coronavirus: On Monday, 6.6 million people were vaccinated with the first dose. people – this is about 10 percent. British population. There is growing outrage in the European Union over the delayed doses of AstraZeneca Plc. The company is expected to deliver fewer doses of the vaccine in the first quarter than previously expected.
The UK uses the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines in its vaccination program. The latter is produced in the UK itself.
“We are very confident in Pfizer and the company’s delivery program. We are working closely with EU partners,” Zahawi said, while acknowledging that the supply process was “tense.”
The UK plans to do so before February 15. vaccinated about 15 million. people belonging to the four priority groups. These include nursing home residents, people over the age of 70, and healthcare workers.
In addition to the conflict over deliveries, AstraZeneca was also forced to defend its products and deny a German newspaper report that the effectiveness of its vaccines in people over 65 is only 8%.
Handelsblatt’s post, released Monday night, citing unidentified sources in the German ruling coalition, is “completely wrong,” an AstraZeneca spokesman said.
A spokesman for the University of Oxford, which developed the vaccines, told AstraZeneca that “there is no basis for claims of low efficacy.” The newspaper’s report was also rejected by the German Health Minister.
AstraZeneca vaccines must be approved by the European Medicines Agency starting this week. Britain has already allowed its use.
Nadhimas Zahawi
© PA / Scanpix
Fair distribution
The EU is also far worse off than many Asian countries in slowing the spread of the epidemic. Rather than loosening restrictions, European countries are preparing for longer and harsher restrictions.
The European Commission on Monday proposed introducing additional travel restrictions and tightening seating arrangements when a series of meetings with AstraZeneca about possible vaccine delays failed to remedy the situation. The two sides are expected to meet again on Wednesday, two days before the date on which the EU drugs will be approved by the EU drug agency.
While a process as complex as vaccine production can certainly present difficulties, Mr. Spahn has also expressed his concerns about the unfair distribution of vaccines.
“Everything must be done honestly and fairly,” Spahn said. “We are not talking about the EU being first, but about a fair part of Europe.”
As a string of bad news destroys hope for a return to normal life, EU governments are trying to evade blame.
Last week, a group of leaders attacked the bloc’s drug agency for saying it was too slow to approve the vaccines. Others, meanwhile, have accused the European Commission of being late in securing sufficient doses of the vaccine for EU members.
“We could vaccinate people much faster, we just don’t have vaccines,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotaki said in a virtual discussion at the World Economic Forum on Monday.
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