EU and Vaccine Nationalism

[No Smoking]

Wednesday 24 March 2021, BBC News;
Coronavirus: EU and UK try to end row with 'win-win' on vaccines.

The UK and the European Union have said they are working together to improve their relationship, after weeks of tensions over Covid vaccine supplies.

In a joint statement, they said they wanted to "create a win-win situation and expand vaccine supply for all".

The European Commission earlier proposed tougher export controls on vaccines, amid tensions over supplies of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that "blockades" were not "sensible".

The joint UK-EU statement said that "openness and global co-operation" would be key to tackling the pandemic.

"We are all facing the same pandemic and the third wave makes co-operation between the EU and UK even more important," it said. "We will continue our discussions."

But there was little harmony earlier on Wednesday when the Commission announced plans for all vaccine shipments to be assessed on the destination country's rate of vaccinations and exports. The proposals, which will be put before EU leaders on Thursday, are seen as focused on the UK and US in particular.

Read More at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56509521

NS Comment: Wobbles and flip-flops in EU decision making have left them clutching at thin air. They were slow in concluding vaccine supply contracts, slow in approving the vaccines and quick to find fault with the UK-led Oxford/Astra Zeneca product. Just scrapping for a fight in a bid to cover up their inadequate response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[No Smoking]

Thursday 25 March 2021, BBC News;
Juncker: We have to pull back from a Covid vaccine war .

The European Commission and the UK government should not be discussing the distribution of coronavirus vaccines in an atmosphere of war, former president of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker has said.

While he understood the recent move of the president of the Commission to threaten export bans, it could create a major reputational damage to the European Union - which used to be the world free-trade champion - and was not the right way to act, he told BBC Hardtalk.

Read More at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-56524161

NS Comment: Voice of reasoning from Monsieur Jean Claude Juncker.

[No Smoking]

Thursday 25 March 2021, BBC News;
Coronavirus: EU says AstraZeneca must 'catch up' on vaccine deliveries .

"The company... has to honour the contract it has with member states," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.

She spoke after EU leaders held a summit to discuss vaccine supplies.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters it was "the end of naivety" from the EU.

Vaccine rollouts in EU states have started sluggishly, and the bloc has blamed pharmaceutical companies - primarily AstraZeneca - for not delivering promised doses. AstraZeneca has denied that it is failing to honour its contract.

"I think it is clear that first of all the company has to catch up," Mrs von der Leyen told a news conference after the virtual leaders summit.

"[It] has to honour the contract it has with European member states before it can engage again in exporting vaccines," she said. "We want to explain to our European citizens that they [can] get their fair share."

The EU has been criticised, primarily by the UK and the World Health Organization (WHO), for so-called vaccine nationalism after it introduced export controls on jabs produced within the bloc.

In response, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that "blockades" were not "sensible".

Read More at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56529868

NS Comment: The UK govt is being gracious to accept a slow-down in deliveries of the vaccine produced in the EU despite difficulties with the expected deliveries from the main plants in India.
EU nations which halted the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine over spurious claims of causing blood clots are now blaming the manufacturer for not delivering. Just looking for a fall-guy to cover up their slow approach at the onset.