SAINT-HERBLAIN, France (AP) – French pharmaceutical startup Valneva had big news in September: a government contract for 60 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine candidate.
The buyer? The United Kingdom – not the European Union, as might be expected for a company on the banks of the Loire.
“What a real waste,” Christelle Morancais, president of the Pays de la Loire regional council, tossed her head around the missed opportunity. The British, she told The Associated Press, “rolled out the red carpet for this company and helped finance and set it up. … and we were powerless. “
The UK has now ordered an additional 40 million doses and has options for more from Valneva, which has a factory in Scotland. The EU is still in talks with the company.
That pattern of Britain investing aggressively and early, while the EU takes a slower, more cautious approach, has been the hallmark of the vaccine race in Europe – providing a window into issues affecting vaccination rollout by the world’s largest trade bloc. have hindered.
As with other countries that moved quickly, previous contract negotiations have helped Britain avoid some of the vaccine supply problems facing the EU of 27 countries – such as when AstraZeneca said it had a manufacturing problem.. Valneva president Franck Grimaud told the AP that Britain is more likely to receive vaccine doses because it signed first.
But the UK has shown speed and agility in other areas too: the regulator has approved vaccines faster than the EU’s, and the government has been experimenting with extending the time between shots – allowing it to roll out the first doses more quickly so that more people can have some protection quickly.
The EU has been more cautious on both counts. While the bloc still gets and distributes vaccines unlike much of the world, it has been in the UK’s rear-view mirror so far. 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 already lost more than 470,000 of its 450 million people to the pandemic, and countless others who were not tested before they died.
Diane Wanten, from Alken, Belgium, survived a battle with COVID-19 that ended up in intensive care last spring. The 62-year-old is now desperately hoping for shots to herself and her husband Francesco, who has Parkinson’s. “If there’s a vaccine for me tomorrow, I’ll be in line,” she said.
Instead, “it is Britain that is head and shoulders above the rest,” said Manten. “I keep wondering why things are possible there and not here in Belgium?”
Britain has its own battle: a death toll of 112,000 in a country of 67 million and many saying the Conservative government should have acted faster to fight the virus. Still, it celebrated the Valneva contract as validation of its vaccine strategy – and its decision to leave the EU.
“We have supported many horses – no matter where they come from,” said Health Secretary Matt Hancock. “It’s a great example of what we can achieve together by working as one United Kingdom.”
At the same time, EU Commission Chair Ursula von der Leyen was in the European Parliament, answering questions about how things could have gone so wrong in a ride to show how the EU is empowering its 27 members.
She admitted that EU mistakes – a threat, in particular – were eventually repealed, from border controls on vaccines from EU member Ireland to Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK. But she was determined that the block’s deliberate drive would be successful.
“I see this as a marathon in which we have just completed the first few kilometers,” she said.
But in Marseille, France, the head of the intensive care unit at La Timone Hospital fears the EU stumbled at the start.
“There was clearly a lack of anticipation. Then a lack of doses. Then we didn’t vaccinate the right people, ”said Dr. Julien Carvelli.
When the virus conquered the continent a year ago and the race for a vaccine began, the EU trumpeted its magnitude as an asset to the vaccine negotiations. The block did get competitive pricing, but it took time – and the difference of a few months took it.
When the EU had a big fight with AstraZeneca last month On the company’s announcement that it could deliver only 31 million doses of a promised first batch of 80 million, CEO Pascal Soriot pointed out that “the contract for the UK was signed three months before the European vaccine agreement. So with the UK we had an extra three months to fix all the issues. “
Luck has also played a role. Many vaccination deals were signed before anyone knew which shots would work or come out first, so everyone was guessing. The EU signed a contract with Germany-based CureVac in November, while the UK just signed a deal – but so far that didn’t matter as the company is still testing its vaccine.
The EU has also been slower in approving vaccines, opting for a longer process where the photos were better viewed by the European Medicines Agency, rather than an emergency permit to ensure greater public confidence, a decision it still defends.
As a result, Britain began handing out vaccination shots on December 8, while the EU did not start until December 27. Since then, it has not caught up.
French Minister of Europe, Clement Beaune, said, “Britain has taken enormous risks.”
If that’s true, it paid off. The UK health commissioner last week hailed a new study suggesting that a single dose of its AstraZeneca vaccine provides strong protection against the virus for 12 weeks, saying it supports the government’s much-debated strategy to delay the second shot.
Compare that to France, which flirted with increasing the time between doses but decided not to. Other EU countries have sometimes withheld doses to make absolutely sure that someone can get a second chance at some point, thus denying a first chance to others.
Several EU countries have also proven to be even more risk averse than the cautious EMA, which has approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for use in the EU for all adults., despite some questions as to whether there was sufficient data on the impact on the elderly.
Germany, France and Sweden decided to hold off on administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to people aged 65 and over. Belgium went further and restricted use to people under 55, even if this means that carefully prepared vaccination plans have to be changed.
The EU’s deliberate approach may have prevented other problems. Without a joint strategy, smaller and poorer EU countries could have struggled to secure and afford vaccines. With open borders, divergent national approaches could have led to chaos.
Despite the slow start, von der Leyen’s promise remains to have 70% of adults in the block vaccinated by the end of the summer.
For the time being, it allows Catherine Moureaux, mayor of the Brussels municipality of Molenbeek, to supervise an empty vaccination center. But she is not complaining.
“We should not regret the fact that Europe is playing carefully,” said Moureaux. “I actually 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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