European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks to the media at Berlaymont, the European Commission’s headquarters.
Thierry monasse
LONDON – The European Union on Friday carried out temporary controls on the export of coronavirus vaccines carried out inside the block, following a dispute with British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and wider supply problems.
Recently, Pfizer has received two massive blows, saying it would temporarily lower production while improving its production capacity at the Belgian plant. Last week, AstraZeneca also said it would deliver much fewer doses to the EU in the spring than initially planned, due to production problems at its plants in the Netherlands and Belgium.
After pressuring AstraZeneca this week to meet its commitments and after urging the firm to move vaccines made in the UK to the block, the EU confirmed on Friday that it was implementing temporary controls.
“Protecting the health of our citizens remains our top priority and we must put in place the necessary measures to ensure this,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.
“This mechanism of transparency and authorization is temporary and, of course, we will continue to maintain our commitments to low- and middle-income countries.”
The controls are expected to last until the end of March.
“This limited and targeted time system only covers Covid-19 vaccines that were agreed by the Advanced Purchase Agreements with the EU,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, EU executive vice president and trade commissioner.
“This mechanism includes a wide range of exemptions to fully meet our humanitarian aid commitments and protect the delivery of vaccines to our neighborhood and countries that need it covered by the COVAX facility.”
The EU approves the AstraZeneca vaccine
The European Union has been pressured by what critics describe as a slow deployment of Covid vaccines. The European Commission, the institution that leads the purchase agreements, has been accused of not getting enough vaccines and has criticized the region’s medical agency for taking too long to approve inoculations that have received the green light elsewhere.
On Friday, the European Medicines Agency approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for emergency use in the EU, about a month after the green light was given in the UK, which recently left the bloc.
Speaking to CNBC on Friday, Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin denied that the shotgun between Brussels and a British pharmaceutical company had become another “Brexit battle”.
“Ultimately, I believe the European Commission has behaved well and effectively in relation to the acquisition of vaccines,” he said. “There is a lot of tension out there … a lot of pressure on the commission from member states, from prime ministers. Why? Because populations are under pressure, people are under pressure.”