This Wednesday, the European Commission (EC) amended the control system for vaccine exports to ensure that the decision to authorize the supply of medicines produced in the territory of the Community to third countries takes into account whether they also export. doses to the EU and how many citizens have been vaccinated according to European sources.
Until now, the only criterion taken into account to block the export of vaccines has been whether the sale of the doses to third countries prevented pharmaceutical companies from fulfilling their contractual obligations with the European Union (EU).
Now the decision will also be taken on the basis of the principles of reciprocity (to what extent a country also exports vaccines to the EU) and proportionality (what is the relationship between the vaccinated population and the epidemiological situation).
European sources assured that it is not a measure intended against a specific country, but that the decision will be made “on a case-by-case basis”, but the president of the community official, Ursula Von der Leyen, said last week that Brussels is considering a stop on exports. to put. to the UK if it still has not delivered doses of AstraZeneca to the EU.
“The reality is that the US is prioritizing vaccines for US citizens until everyone is vaccinated. At the moment there are (no) doses from the UK entering the EU,” the sources said.
Brussels has been criticizing for days that vaccines do not reach the EU from the two plants that AstraZeneca has in the United Kingdom and that, according to the contract with the EC, they must supply part of the doses purchased.
In contrast, 10 million doses have been sent from the EU to the UK, a conflict that Europe is trying to resolve with the UK government.
“We are in talks with all our partners,” said the said sources.
Since the launch of the vaccine export mechanism in February, the EU has allowed 380 deliveries to third countries and has only blocked the shipment of 250,000 doses of AstraZeneca from Italy to Australia.
The Commission made these changes a day before the virtual summit that European leaders are celebrating tomorrow and Friday, in which the delays in vaccination campaigns in the EU are central to discussions.
AstraZeneca’s non-compliance has become a problem for countries such as Bulgaria and Latvia which are heavily committed to their vaccines when the contract was signed last August with the pharmaceutical company, which was the first at the time, with the cheapest drugs and whose technology is already known. comparable to those against the flu.