the eu commission is calling for tighter
controls on
exports of the oxford astrazeneca
vaccine produced inside the block
those calls come amid growing
frustration at the vaccine maker's
decision
to cut deliveries to eu members the
company is blaming supply chain
problems but brussels has accused it of
failing to keep contractual promises
all 27 eu countries are struggling with
slow vaccine rollouts
this may sting a little but it's over in
the blink of an eye
getting vaccinated may be a speedy
affair but vaccine rollouts across the
eu have proved painstakingly slow
the blox executive is pointing the
finger at the pharmaceutical industry
the european union wants the ordered and
pre-financed doses to be delivered as
soon as possible
and we want our contract to be fully
fulfilled
that's a message for vaccine developer
astrazeneca
the uk-based firm recently announced it
would be unable to fulfill
its eu orders in the agreed time frame
astrazeneca says
that's down to supply problems in the eu
possibly here
at the belgium headquarter of novasap a
company that works with astrazeneca
to deliver key vaccine components the
astrazeneca jab
is due to get the green light from eu
regulators
in the coming days so last minute news
of a 60
cut in deliveries came as a nasty shock
to lawmakers
here in brussels governments have been
rolling out the red carpet for the
pharmaceutical company we do not have
the vaccine thanks to them
but thanks to public funding the public
paid for the production capacity
the deal to secure supplies of the
astrazeneca vaccine
was an eu first that brought a big smile
to the health commissioner's face
back in august 2020. the block purchased
300 million doses with the option
to add 100 million more in other words
the european union is
astrazeneca's biggest client it paid
hundreds of millions of euros
up front in order to ensure smooth
production and supply
but with promises unfulfilled the block
is not a happy customer
the big question is now where have all
those
pre-produced vaccine doses gone they may
have been sold to the highest bidder
elsewhere
that's why physician and politician
peter lisa welcomes news
that producers may soon be obliged to
notify the eu
before they export any kobet 19 vaccines
outside the block so we want to
cooperate
but if others don't play fair
the european commission has to show the
weapons and the first step is to
register
the second step is an export ban farmer
giant pfizer has also been in the firing
line
recently it too announced delays earlier
this month
citing production issues at its main
site here in belgium
producers say they're moving as fast as
they can
but in the race between vaccine and
virus every delay
could cost lives
that report from dw's george matas and
he joins us now from brussels for more
hi georg
help us understand this is the eu really
implying here that astrazeneca has
been selling the eu's doses of this
vaccine
to someone else
clearly sumi that is a concern here and
if you look at the sheer numbers of
vaccination
you you can see that the uk has
vaccinated for instance
at 10 out of 100 residents whereas the
eu is yet to reach
2 out of 100 residents um two doses
per 100 residents and so the concern
clearly is
has a vaccine been has the prepaid
and pre-funded vaccine that the ueu has
bite in the contract already been given
to
uk residents of course in the uk uh the
it's the approval
has been given earlier an emergency
approval and
only a first vaccine dose is given so we
have to see when the second dose will be
given so the
uk is ahead but the concern clearly is
is the uk ahead because they had their
hands
on more vaccine that were meant to be
for the eu
what about this question of the export
ban that you mentioned in your report
that vaccine producers might have to
notify the european union
before exporting how big of a difference
could that make
well so far the the uk for instance is
not affected by the supply cut announced
by astrazeneca
and astrazeneca of course produces not
only in the uk
but also produces its vaccine in the eu
and now with this transparency mechanism
that the eu's suggesting is is a clear
signal to the industry that they're
now ready to play hardball because of
course what the eu could do
is say we will look exactly how much
vaccine is being delivered into the uk
or so elsewhere into the world
uh the u.s for instance for in case of
astrazeneca hasn't even started approval
so nothing has been going there
but the you you can clearly monitor now
where things are going and in case they
have the feeling that too much is going
there
that should be going to europe they
could even introduce a ban
meanwhile there have been reports in in
german media that the astrazeneca
vaccine
is essentially ineffective for people
over the age of 65 and that really has
stirred controversy
can you tell us more about those claims
clearly i'm not a medical expert so i
can't exactly comment on on that issue
what i can tell you is that astrazeneca
has disputed
uh these rumors as they say and what i
also can tell you is that in
in europe the medical agency is is now
looking at
uh tons of material from astrazeneca and
what they will do is
they will not give an emergency approval
but the normal approval a fast approval
and and they will give a recommendation
per each
age group so we'll have to wait until
the end of the week most likely
uh that is when the approval from the
european medical agency
is expected dw's gerry matas reporting
from brussels thank you so much
well germany's health minister declined
to comment on those reports about
astrazeneca's efficacy this morning but
he has
backed the eu calls for more export
controls on vaccines made
in the block he told dw's chief
political editor michelle kufner
it's about fairness with me now is
germany's health minister yen span mr
span
so will you now ask the european union
to
implement a registry for the export of
vaccine outside the european union
it would be a good idea if companies had
to obtain a license to export vaccines
so that we can monitor which vaccine
leaves the european union
after having been produced or bottled in
europe
licensing does not mean a prohibition of
exports
but that they at least need to be
registered and approved
and that will happen in many cases that
it is approved we do not want to keep
everything to ourselves but i want
things to be fair
so that when there are supply problems
the impact is felt by everyone and not
just by the european union this is an
area where we are somewhat uncertain at
the moment whether the consequences of
problems in production
are evenly distributed
the united states is following an
america first policy ensuring that
each u.s citizen gets vaccinated before
those exports take place does the eu
now want to follow an eu first strategy
news excuse me no i am talking about a
fair share that we obtain
a fair share of the material that we
financed in advance after all
in almost all contracts that the
european union negotiated we invested
hundreds of millions of euros
in advance so that production capacities
could be established so it is not a
matter of being
first it is a matter of being fair that
is the point here
but of course we as europe as the
european union
as the german federal government always
stressed that we are also thinking about
the supply of vaccines
to the rest of the world
in the end we are developing vaccines
here in europe
in germany for the whole world it is our
goal that others too
can profit as soon as possible but one
thing remains true
i can't tell german and eu citizens that
vaccines produced in europe
are available all over the world but not
in europe
thank you very much for the interview
okay let's get some more perspective on
the story now we have rob watts from dw
business with us hi rob we heard jen
spahn the german health minister there
being pretty even-handed on this
question
but we also have heard voices of real
frustration and anger from the european
union
is that warranted without doubt they are
angry because what we're talking about
here
is a contract the eu has as jan shaban
was saying
invested hundreds of millions in this
particular vaccine it got in good and
early back in august it was the first
vaccine that the eu
placed an order for it gave its money
over saying look astrazeneca you can
take some risks
here in developing this vaccine and then
when you've got it ready
you can you know get it to us as soon as
we can prove it
now if you believe what astrazeneca
is apparently telling the eu which is
that they've had problems getting the
materials for their vaccine and that
they've had problems with the mechanics
of one of their plants then that's to
some extent not
under their control but if you believe
what some
eu officials clearly do believe and that
astrazeneca is instead choosing to send
its vaccines abroad to countries that
may be willing to pay a bit more
then yes the eu i suppose has a
justification for being
angry the italians are particularly
angry because they're going to get
this quarter less than half of the 8
million vaccines that they were
expecting and they've gone so far as to
say that they're going to launch
legal action against astrazeneca we may
all see the same from the eu
this is all putting astrazeneca under a
lot of pressure isn't it
yeah and it's not the only pressure that
they're under so we obviously
as you've already discussed have the the
questions over its efficacy
among the over 65s but there are also
discussions going on about
the prices that astrazeneca is charging
to different countries for example
it doesn't just produce them in europe
it's vaccines it produces them also
in india and south africa has just
placed an order for 1.5 million doses
from its indian factory and it's been
charged 5.25 for that
now the eu was charged just over two
dollars
per dose so south africa is being
charged
more than double what the eu is being
charged so there are clearly
questions to be answered over why
wealthier nations appear to be paying
less
for this vaccine than uh less wealthy
nations so there
are various battles being fought by
astrazeneca at the moment very
interesting rob watts from dw business
thank you so much thank you