Italy blocked exports of 250,000 AstraZeneca doses to Australia on Thursday, becoming the first EU country to ban exports due to a vaccine shortage in the bloc.
Why it matters: The controversial move exposes multiple major challenges for vaccine distribution – even among the richest countries in the world.
The state of affairs: AstraZeneca is already well behind schedule in providing doses to the EU. Now the company says it will provide less than half of the doses originally promised in the second quarter as well.
- This has infuriated European leaders, who are under pressure from a remarkably inefficient vaccine rollout to date. In the EU, only one dose has been administered for every three in the US and every four in the UK, according to population.
- This partly explains Italy’s decision, backed by the European Commission, to block a shipment of 250,000 doses to Australia from a US-owned factory near Rome, where the bottles were filled.
- The action was taken based on a system developed in January – amid a fierce dispute with AstraZeneca over access to UK-produced doses – to block vaccine exports if a company fails to fulfill its obligations to the EU complies.
Yet: Delivery is not the only problem. EU countries, including Italy, are already on hundreds of thousands of unused AstraZeneca doses.
- There was a general feeling of hesitation about the vaccine, fueled in part by a false report of its effectiveness in a German newspaper and French President Emmanuel Macron’s bizarre claim that it was “nearly ineffective” in people over 65.
- France and Germany only approved the vaccine this week for people over 65 after postponement due to insufficient data.
- In numbers: France had only administered 16% of AstraZeneca doses since last Friday, while Italy and Germany have both used about 21%.
Driving the news: Real-world data from the UK – which relies heavily on the homegrown vaccine developed at the University of Oxford – now suggests that the vaccine is highly effective in preventing hospitalization in the elderly, even after a single dose.
Between the lines: EU countries have triggered two international incidents, with the UK and now Australia, over access to a vaccine they barely use.
- And all of this is happening at a time when countries around the world, many of which will rely on the AstraZeneca vaccine, have been denied access to vaccines at all.
What to watch: Italy’s decision also underlines the difficulties faced by import dependent countries in receiving doses.
- For example, Canada has ordered more doses in relation to its population than any other country, but it has received relatively few.
- Meanwhile, the US, which Airfinity says has the largest vaccine manufacturing capacity in the world, is on track to produce enough doses to cover its entire adult population by May.