BRUSSELS (AP) – A shipment of more than a quarter of a million AstraZeneca vaccines to Australia was prevented from leaving the European Union, in the first use of an export control system instituted by the bloc to ensure that large pharmaceutical companies respect their contracts.
The move, affecting only a small number of vaccines, underscores growing frustration within the 27-nation bloc over the slow implementation of its vaccine campaign and the decrease in promised vaccine deliveries, especially by Anglo-Swedish AstraZeneca.
The ban came at the behest of Italy, and the EU has not objected to the tougher line that Rome has taken in dealing with the shortage of vaccines in the bloc since a new government led by Mario Draghi came to power on 13 February.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters on Friday that he had anticipated that veto problems could arise in shipments from Europe, adding that Australia’s vaccination schedule would continue as planned.
“They are in a situation of unbridled crisis. This is not the situation in Australia, ”said Morrison. “But even so, we were able to secure our supplies and additional supplies for import, both with Pfizer and AstraZeneca, which means that we can continue to implement our program.”
He said the most significant thing is that Australia is also producing vaccines domestically, which gives it sovereignty over its vaccination program.
Italy’s objections centered both on the general shortage of supplies in the EU and on “delays in the supply of vaccines by AstraZeneca to the EU and Italy,” said a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He said he also intervened because of the size of the shipment, more than 250,700 doses, that he would go to Australia, which he did not consider a vulnerable nation.
Italy said it informed the company on Tuesday. AstraZeneca declined to comment. The Financial Times first reported on the matter on Thursday.
In the face of dose shortages during the early stages of the vaccine campaign, which began in late December, the EU issued a COVID-19 vaccine export control system in late January, forcing companies to respect their contractual obligations with the block before commercial exports could be approved.
The EU is specifically angry with AstraZeneca because it is delivering far fewer doses to the bloc than it had promised. From the initial order for 80 million doses to the EU in the first quarter, the company will struggle to deliver just half that amount.
There were rumors that the company was moving from EU factories to other nations, but CEO Pascal Soriot insisted that any failure was attributable only to technical issues of production.
The EU vaccinated only 8% of its population, compared with more than 30%, for example, in the United Kingdom. Australia is still at the beginning of its vaccination campaign.
With such action, the EU is trapped in a difficult situation. On the one hand, it is under intense pressure to increase vaccine production in the bloc and, on the other hand, it wants to remain an attractive hub for pharmaceutical giants and a fair trading partner for third countries.
The EU considered that it had made perfect preparations for the launch of the vaccines, heavily funding research and production capacity last year. With 450 million inhabitants, the EU has signed agreements for six different vaccines. In total, it ordered up to 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and closed deals with other companies for more than 2 billion vaccines.
He says that despite the current difficulties, he is still convinced that he can vaccinate 70% of the adult population by the end of the summer.
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Danica Kirka contributed from London, Colleen Barry from Milan and Nick Perry from Wellington, New Zealand.