Australia asks EU to review blocking AstraZeneca vaccine

CANBERRA / TOKYO / BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Australia has asked the European Commission to review its decision to block the shipment of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, as countries that import vaccines manufactured in the EU fear a potential impact on supplies.

The EU executive supported Italy’s decision to block the sending of 250,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia, European officials said, in the first refusal of an export order since a mechanism to monitor the flow of the vaccine was established at the end of January.

The move was a reaction to AstraZeneca’s delays in delivering vaccines to the EU. The company said it could deliver only about 40 million doses by the end of this month, up from 90 million foreseen in its contract.

An official said the Anglo-Swedish company initially asked Rome to send even more doses to Australia, but then reduced its order to 250,000 after a first refusal from Italy, where some of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccines are bottled.

“Australia raised the issue with the European Commission through several channels and, in particular, we asked the European Commission to review this decision,” Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters in Melbourne.

A European Commission spokeswoman said on Friday that the EU executive had not received any specific requests from Australia’s health minister about the vaccine bloc.

Hunt said Australia, which started its inoculation program two weeks ago, has already received 300,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which would last until local production of the vaccine increased. He added that the missing doses will not affect the implementation of Australia’s vaccination program.

When asked about the EU’s export ban, Japan’s vaccine minister, Taro Kono, said: “We are asking the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a thorough investigation. We want to work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to guarantee vaccines for Japan. ”

AstraZeneca did not respond to a request for comment.

EXPORT CONTROLS

In addition to the decision to block shipment to Australia, the EU authorized all export orders from the scheme’s debut on January 30 to March 1, which totaled 174 orders for millions of shots to 29 countries, including Australia, Japan, Britain, the United Arab Emirates and Canada, said a European Commission spokeswoman.

Almost all vaccines exported from the EU since the end of January are made by Pfizer and BioNTech, said the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, last week, with much smaller quantities being exported by Moderna and AstraZeneca.

The EU created the mechanism to monitor vaccine exports after pharmaceutical companies announced delays in supply to the 27-country bloc. Now it is planning to extend the scheme until the end of June, after it expires on March 31, EU officials told Reuters.

When asked about the move from Italy, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said Paris could do the same, although at the moment it does not produce COVID-19 vaccines.

German Health Minister Jens Spahn said drug makers must honor vaccine supply contracts to Europe, but said Germany still had no reason to stop sending vaccines produced domestically to other countries.

While seeking intervention by the European Commission, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he could understand the reasons for Italy’s objection.

“In Italy, people die at the rate of 300 per day. And therefore, I can certainly understand the high level of anxiety that would exist in Italy and in many countries in Europe, ”Morrison told reporters in Sydney.

Italy’s decision came just days after Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who took office last month, told other EU leaders that the bloc needed to speed up vaccinations and crack down on pharmaceutical companies that failed to deliver on promised supplies.

EU countries started vaccinating in late December, but are moving at a much slower pace than other wealthy countries, including former member Britain and the United States. The authorities attribute the slow progress in part to supply problems with manufacturers.