SAINT-HERBLAIN, France (AP) – French pharmaceutical startup Valneva had great news in September: a contract with the government for 60 million doses of its candidate vaccine against coronavirus.
The buyer? The United Kingdom – not the European Union, as you would expect for a company on the banks of the Loire.
“What a waste,” said Christelle Morancais, president of the regional council of Pays de la Loire, as she tried to understand the missed opportunity. The British, she told the Associated Press, “have rolled out the red carpet for this company, helping with financing and installation. … and we were powerless. “
The UK has now ordered 40 million more doses and has options for more from Valneva, which has a factory in Scotland. The EU is still in negotiations with the company.
This aggressive and early investment pattern in Britain, while the EU takes a slower and more cautious approach, has been the hallmark of the vaccine race in Europe – and offers a window into the problems that have hampered the launch of vaccination by largest commercial block in the world.
As with other countries that moved quickly, contract negotiation earlier helped Britain avoid some of the vaccine supply problems that the 27 EU countries faced – such as when AstraZeneca said there was a production problem . Valneva president Franck Grimaud told the AP that Britain will receive doses of the vaccine earlier because it signed first.
But the UK has also shown speed and agility in other areas: its regulatory agency has authorized vaccines more quickly than that of the EU, and its government has experimented with stretching the time between vaccines – allowing the first doses to be distributed more quickly so that more people can have some protection quickly.
The EU has been more cautious in both cases. Although the bloc is still receiving and distributing the vaccine – unlike much of the world – it has so far been left in the UK’s rear view mirror. Britain has given at least one chance to about 15% of its population, compared to about 3% in the bloc. This is not just a matter of pride: the EU has lost more than 490,000 of its 450 million people in the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University, and countless others who were not tested before they died.
Diane Wanten, from Alken, Belgium, survived a fight against COVID-19 that put her in the ICU last spring. The 62-year-old actress now looks forward to injections for her and her husband Francesco, who has Parkinson’s. “If there is a vaccine for me tomorrow, I will be in line,” she said.
Instead, “it is Britain that rises far above the rest,” said Wanten. “I wonder why things are possible there and not here in Belgium?”
Britain has its own struggles: a death toll of 112,000 in a country of 67 million and many who say the conservative government should have acted faster to fight the virus. Still, it signed the Valneva contract as a validation of its vaccination strategy – and its decision to leave the EU.
“We support many horses – no matter where they are from,” said Health Secretary Matt Hancock. “It is a great example of what we can achieve together, working as a United Kingdom.”
At the same time, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was in the European Parliament, answering questions about how things could have gone so wrong in a campaign that should show how the EU strengthens its 27 members.
She admitted EU mistakes – specifically a threat, eventually portrayed, of vaccine checks on the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. But she remained firm that the bloc’s deliberate initiative would be successful.
“I see this as a marathon in which we have just finished the first few kilometers,” she said.
But in Marseille, France, the head of the intensive care wing at Hospital La Timone fears that the EU has stumbled over the starting line.
“There was a clear lack of anticipation. Then, a lack of doses. So we don’t vaccinate the right people, ”said Dr. Julien Carvelli.
When the virus took over the continent a year ago and began the race for a vaccine, the EU was touting its size as an asset in vaccine negotiations. The bloc achieved competitive prices, but that took time – and the difference in a few months cost a lot.
When the EU had a big fight with AstraZeneca last month over the company’s announcement that it would only be able to deliver 31 million doses of a promised first batch of 80 million, CEO Pascal Soriot pointed out that “the UK contract was signed three months before the European Vaccine Agreement. So with the UK, we had an extra three months to fix all the flaws. “
Luck also played a role. Many vaccine agreements were signed before anyone knew which vaccines would work or be produced first. The EU signed a contract with CureVac, based in Germany, in November, while the UK just struck a deal a few days ago – but so far, it hasn’t mattered, as the company is still testing its vaccine.
The EU was also slower in approving vaccines, opting for a longer process that gave vaccines a more thorough scrutiny from the European Medicines Agency, rather than emergency authorization, to ensure greater public confidence, a decision that it still defends.
As a result, Britain started distributing vaccines on 8 December, while the EU only started operating on 27 December.
France’s European Minister for Europe, Clement Beaune, said that “Britain has taken enormous risks”.
If that’s true, it was worth it. Britain’s head of health last week welcomed a new study suggesting that a single dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine offers strong 12-week protection against the virus, saying it supports the government’s much-debated strategy of postponing the second injection.
Compare that to France, which flirted with extending the time between doses, but decided not to. Other EU countries sometimes withhold doses to absolutely ensure that a person can have a second chance at a specific time, thereby negating the first chance for others.
Several EU countries were also even more risk averse than the cautious EMA, which approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for use in the EU for all adults, despite some doubts about whether there was sufficient data on its impact on the elderly.
Germany, France and Sweden have decided to postpone the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people aged 65 and over. Belgium has gone further, restricting use to children under 55, even if it means that carefully designed vaccination plans will have to be changed.
The EU’s deliberate approach, however, may have avoided other problems. Without a joint strategy, the EU’s smaller and poorer nations could have struggled to secure and pay for vaccines. With open borders, divergent national approaches could have led to chaos.
Despite the slow start, von der Leyen’s promise to vaccinate 70% of the bloc’s adults by the end of the summer.
For now, he leaves Catherine Moureaux, mayor of the municipality of Molenbeek in Brussels, to oversee an empty vaccination center. But she is not complaining.
“We must not regret the fact that Europe is playing cautiously,” said Moureaux. “In fact, I think this is a good thing.”
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Casert reported from Brussels. Danica Kirka in London; Frank Jordans and Geir Moulson in Berlin; Mark Carlson and Sam Petrequin in Brussels; Angela Charlton in Paris and Daniel Cole in Marseille, France contributed to this report.
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