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AstraZeneca Plc’s coronavirus vaccine is finally reaching European Union countries as the bloc tries to speed up its inoculation campaign and put a period full of crisis behind.
France will use it from Saturday, with priority for health care workers, after their first batch arrived Friday evening. Germany, Ireland, Spain and Austria will also start offering the shot, while Portugal will receive deliveries early next week.
Doses are mainly transported by truck across centers across the continent and their arrival is a welcome development for the EU, which has spent the past few weeks in a public row with Astra over vaccination targets. This eventually became a back and forth guilt game, threats of protectionism and huge political mistakes that threatened the Brexit agreement between the UK and the EU.
Even with the improved launch, governments remain concerned about the delays given that thousands continue to die daily. They also adhere to blockages to control the spread of the virus, especially as new variants appear.
Germany is likely to extend its Covid-19 restrictions for two more weeks when Chancellor Angela Merkel and state government leaders meet next week, people familiar with the talks said. Friday in Greece circulation and purchasing restrictions were tightened.
According to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker, so far the progress of EU vaccination is far behind the United Kingdom and the United States
Despite the slow start, the European Commission is adhering to the plan to vaccinate 70% of the adult population by the end of the summer. The pace is expected to increase rapidly in the coming months, with deliveries of at least 300 million doses in the second quarter.
Amid continuing concern about the delays, a group of EU leaders urged European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen to quickly conclude talks with other vaccine developers, such as Novovax and Valneva. They also highlighted the risks associated with Johnson & Johnson’s decision to ship vaccines to the U.S. for packaging.
The J&J product “may be a potential game changer due to easier storage and transportation, as well as the requirement of a single dose,” the leaders said in the letter obtained by Bloomberg.
Astra’s shooting is the third to be removed by the EU drug regulator. Approved the vaccine from BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc. in December and that of Moderna Inc. last month.
Many countries have been cautious about the Astra jab and only recommend it for under-65s. But governments still rely on it to speed up the inoculation effort.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Friday that it would allow the country to double vaccinations in February compared to what would have been possible with Pfizer and Moderna alone. The Astra firing will initially be applied primarily to health care workers aged 64 years and under, which allows those over 65 to get vaccinated faster with the other two.
Austria is also increasing. In Vienna, the additional supply means the city can administer 28,600 doses next week, twice as much as the week of February 1st.
As governments try to move beyond the misfortune of the vaccine, they also want to prevent high-profile mistakes from undermining public confidence. Spahn highlighted this point on Friday, saying all approved products are equally good for those under 65.
“We have with the three vaccines effective tools to fight this pandemic,” he said in Berlin. “We hope and we hope that more will follow soon ”.
– With the assistance of Iain Rogers, Geraldine Amiel, Boris Groendahl, Joao Lima, Henrique Almeida, Nikos Chrysoloras, Paul Tugwell, Ellen Proper and Sotiris Nikas