On Wednesday, the European Union threatened to take tougher measures to curb export of Covid-19 vaccines, increasing a feud with the United States and Britain over the handling of deliveries to the 27-nation bloc.
With the EU facing a third wave of the pandemic, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at a news conference on Wednesday that bloc members are “ready to use all the tools we need” to ensure that receive your fair share.
Noting that the EU exported around 41 million doses of vaccines to other countries, she said that “open roads work in both directions, which is why we need to ensure that there is reciprocity and proportionality”.
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Without naming any country, she added that if the situation does not change “we will have to reflect on how to make exports to vaccine-producing countries depend on their level of openness”.
Von der Leyen said that the flow of vaccines is quiet in the United States, but expressed frustration at the lack of deliveries by AstraZeneca in Britain.
She said 10 million doses were from EU factories to the UK, but the bloc “is still waiting for the doses to arrive from the UK”
In the six weeks from January 30, when the EU implemented a system requiring vaccine export authorization, drug manufacturers dispatched 9.1 million doses to Britain and 1 million to the United States from block factories.
Von der Leyen also criticized Anglo-Swedish vaccine maker AstraZeneca, accusing the pharmaceutical company of delaying the EU’s vaccination campaign and warning that the bloc was “weighing export bans to ensure supplies”.
“AstraZeneca unfortunately produced and delivered insufficiently, and that painfully, of course, slowed down the vaccination campaign,” she said.
The company originally promised to deliver 90 million doses in the first three months of the year, but later said it could supply just 40 million, and more recently just 30 million, she added. However, she said the EU still plans to vaccinate 70 percent of all adults by September.
AstraZeneca has also had to deal with reports of some recipients of their injection developing dangerous blood clots, although the company and international regulators say there is no evidence that the vaccine is to blame. Several countries, including Germany, France, Italy and Spain, have suspended their use.
The European Medicines Agency said it was investigating reports of 30 cases of unusual blood diseases in 5 million users of the AstraZeneca vaccine. In total, 45 million Covid-19 shots were delivered across the region.
The EU regulator will release its findings on Thursday, but Chief Executive Emer Cooke said she sees no reason to change her recommendation from AstraZeneca – one of four vaccines she has approved for use.
A World Health Organization vaccine safety panel also said on Wednesday that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh its risks and recommends that vaccinations continue.
The WHO listed the AstraZeneca and Oxford University vaccine for emergency use last month, expanding access to the relatively cheap vaccine in the developing world.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.