EU BLOCKS shipment of 250,000 AstraZeneca vaccines destined for Australia
THE EU has blocked a shipment of 250,000 AstraZeneca jabs destined for Australia amid the bloc’s Covid vaccine chaos. The controversial move came after the drug manufacturer failed to meet its EU contract commitments, sources claim. ... A shipment of a quarter million AstraZeneca vaccines was to be sent to help Australia's coronavirus jab programme. But health bosses there have been left in limbo after the delivery was barred from leaving the European Union. Italy told Brussels last week that under the EU’s vaccine export transparency regime, it was preventing the shipment. It's the first use of an export control system that was instituted by the bloc over a month ago - and paves the way for more countries missing out on their vital rollouts. An EU official, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue, confirmed a Financial Times report revealing the devastating action. The paper says the move threatens to increase global tensions over procurement of Covid jabs. Italy was the first and sole country to spearhead the move, reports the FT. Although the European Commission has power to object to Italy's decision - it did not, officials said. The 250,000 doses were to be sent to Australia from AstraZeneca's Anagni plant near Rome. Italy has been taking a tough line in dealing with vaccine shortages within the 27-nation bloc since a new government led by Mario Draghi came into power last month. It follows the EU issuing an export control system for Covid vaccines. This must ensure that companies respect their contractual obligations to the bloc before commercial exports can be approved elsewhere - including to Australia. The bloc has taken the churlish action after being faced with shortages of doses during the early stages of the vaccine campaign that started in late December. The EU has been specifically angry with the the Anglo-Swedish company because it accuses the firm of delivering far fewer doses to the bloc than it had promised. There was no immediate comment from AstraZeneca. In January the firm cut its supplies to the EU in the first quarter to 40million doses from the 90million foreseen in its contract. It later told EU states it would cut deliveries by another 50 per cent in the second quarter. The company later said it was striving to supply missing doses for the second quarter from outside Europe. The plant in Anagni is handling the final stage of the AstraZeneca production - the so-called fill and finishing of its Covid vaccine. The site is owned by US group Catalent and is expected to handle hundreds of millions of AstraZeneca doses over the next 12 months. The Anagni plant is also expected to help produce the vaccine developed by American drugmaker Johnson & Johnson. The bloc's vaccination programme is failing miserably and has vaccinated just eight per cent of its population - far less than the UK rate of more than 30 per cent. Scaremongering by European politicians, including F
