Mamma mia!
Italian police found millions of undeclared doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine during an operation at a factory – raising fears that the shots were hidden amid a distribution dispute between the European Union and the United Kingdom, according to reports on Wednesday. -market.
Up to 29 million doses of the vaccine – almost double the amount the European Union has received from the pharmaceutical company so far – were discovered at a pharmaceutical factory in Anagni over the weekend, reported the Italian newspaper La Stampa.
The jabs were initially intended for the United Kingdom and then blocked by Italy after new rules on vaccine exports were introduced last month, EU sources told the newspaper.
But Italy was unaware of the vaccines until EU internal market commissioner Thierry Breton launched an investigation into their fate – then warned Italian police about the plant, according to the newspaper.
“On Saturday, the European Commission asked the Prime Minister to check some batches of the vaccine at an Anagni factory. The Prime Minister informed the Minister of Health, who ordered an inspection between Saturday and Sunday, carried out by the [Italian authorities], ”An official told The Independent. “The inspected lots were destined for Belgium.”
Belgium, which is part of the European Union, is holding heated negotiations with the United Kingdom over a vaccine distribution plan, officials said.
The jabs may have been manufactured at Halix’s factory in the Netherlands, which is still awaiting approval from the European Medicines Agency, according to Italian media.
The Italian Ministry of Health said it was investigating the incident at the factory.
AstraZeneca said that most of the factory’s 29 million doses were destined for EU countries and the rest for poor countries under the World Health Organization’s COVAX plan.
“There are no other planned exports besides COVAX countries. There are 13 million doses of vaccine waiting to be released from quality control to be dispatched to COVAX, ”the company told The Independent.
The rest of the 16 million doses will be sent to Europe this month and in April, after quality control has been approved, the company said.
The operation came after AstraZeneca was attacked by the European Commission for failing to meet delivery targets in recent weeks.
The vaccine has been authorized in more than 50 countries, but has not yet received the green light in the United States.