Brussels bans exports to have vaccines in Europe

Vaccines against covid-19 produced in the Community may only be exported with express authorization. The decision taken by the European Commission is global, but it hits the mark on AstraZeneca, which has cut the number of doses it plans to deliver to the Union to a quarter. The war is already open and involves the United Kingdom – a month after Brexit. Brussels says it wants to secure vaccines for Europeans.

Subject to prior authorization to export was decided by the European Commission as an “insurance policy”, said Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides. The vice-president, Valdis Dombrovskis, justified that he intends to “immediately achieve complete transparency” and, “if necessary, will provide a tool to guarantee the delivery of vaccines”. Note that the United Kingdom has chosen to administer all vaccines received from Pfizer, without saving sufficient doses for the necessary booster.

AstraZeneca invoked production difficulties at the unit in Belgium to justify the cut in the number of doses it will deliver to Europe in the first quarter. The cut (“unacceptable”, says Brussels) will be 25% and has already prompted an inspection by the Belgian authorities at the Seneffe factory, to see if the delay is in fact due to production problems. The conclusions should be known in the coming days.

In this war, Brussels guarantees that the contract makes it clear that the two factories in the United Kingdom belong to the supply network to Europe, so part of their production must be sent to the member states. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has already stated that Europe has funded AstraZeneca, which now has to fulfill the contract. “There is no plausible explanation” for the delay, he told German radio.

AstraZeneca replies that the contract signed with the United Kingdom (three months before signing with Europe) prevents it from taking vaccines from that country before delivering the 100 million doses to it.

After the Brussels declaration, the president of the pharmaceutical company, Pascal Soriot, admitted to sending vaccines produced in other parts of the world to Europe.

defines “best effort”

In the 42-page contract (and largely censored), the pharmacist is committed to making “the best efforts” to deliver the doses to Europe. The expression, says Brussels, is usual when it comes to a product under development. It is, however, the argument with which AstraZeneca guarantees not to have signed a firm commitment, but only an intention.

Leyen meets with pharmaceutical companies

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will meet with all the pharmaceutical companies with whom the European Commission has signed contracts for the purchase of vaccines. The news site “Politico” says the meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, by videoconference. The meeting aims to find cooperation mechanisms between the public and private sectors, with a view to responding to the current and future pandemics.

sanofi and Novartis manufacture pfizer

Faced with difficulties in the development of its vaccine, the French Sanofi had already said that it will assist in the production of the Pfizer drug. Yesterday, Novartis announced it had reached an agreement with Pfizer to start manufacturing the vaccine. The first doses are expected to leave the factory in Stein, Switzerland, in the third quarter. Novavax with 89.3% effectiveness

Large-scale clinical trials of the Novavax vaccine show an overall effectiveness of 89.3% and 86% against the English variant. The trial taking place in South Africa shows a 60% effectiveness against the South African strain, among volunteers who are not HIV positive.

safeguard neighboring countries

Brussels will not block the export of vaccines to countries it has pledged to assist. Among the neighboring countries that will receive the promised doses, Valdis Dombrovskis named the western Balkans. Nor will Europe’s participation in the global Covax initiative, organized by the UN to ensure that 92 developing countries receive two billion doses by the end of the year, be unaffected.

yes to Astrazeneca since I was 18

As planned, the European Medicines Agency has authorized the AstraZeneca vaccine, to be administered to everyone over 18 years of age. The intention of the German health authorities, who said that there is insufficient data from clinical trials on the vaccine’s effectiveness in older people, fell through.

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