The EU says the UK and US have banned vaccine exports, and the EU allows exports of Pfizer and Moderna injections

by

FILE PHOTO: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives a press conference on the EU’s bio-defense preparedness program aimed at increasing the bloc’s capabilities to identify variants of the new coronavirus, at the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, on February 17, 2021. Aris Oikonomou / Swimming pool through REUTERS

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday that the EU allowed COVID-19 vaccines to be exported, mainly from BionTech / Pfizer and Moderna, while the United States and Britain had mechanisms for block them.

Von der Leyen said at a press conference that approximately 95% of vaccines manufactured in the EU that had been exported since January 30 were manufactured by Pfizer and BioNTech, and the rest by Moderna.

He said they both respected their supply contracts with the EU and therefore there were no export restrictions, while in AstraZeneca’s exports the EU kept “a very close eye” due to the company’s shortcomings in block deliveries from 27 countries.

Von der Leyen added that the United States and Britain had systems in place that effectively blocked the export of COVID-19 vaccines.

Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; Edited by John Chalmers

.Source