Vaccine troubles deepen in EU
Leaders forced to stay home; Merkel pushes bloc on doses
BRUSSELS — European Union leaders were looking for ways to step up covid-19 vaccinations across the 27-nation region Thursday as doses fall short, new cases spike, a feud kindles with the United Kingdom and internal quarrels flare.
The coronavirus pandemic once again prevented the leaders from meeting in person, reflecting the poor epidemiological situation in the EU. The spread of more contagious variants of the virus has pushed hospitals in some countries to their limit, and combined with the lack of vaccine doses available in Europe, has led several EU members to impose strict lockdown measures over the Easter period.
Three months after vaccination campaigns started, less than 5% of the EU’s 450 million residents have been fully vaccinated against the virus.
Speaking ahead of the video talks, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said problems with the delivery of coronavirus vaccines have underscored the need for the EU to redouble its efforts to produce doses within the bloc.
“We can see clearly that British facilities are producing for Great Britain. The United States isn’t exporting, and therefore we are dependent upon what can be produced in Europe,” she said.
To ensure a steadier vaccine supply, the bloc’s executive arm has proposed strengthening export controls for coronavirus shots. Even if the move is detrimental to non-EU nations, the European Commission’s goal is to force vaccine manufacturers, especially AstraZeneca, to deliver the doses agreed to in their contracts.
The commission also wants to make sure a principle of export reciprocity is enforced with countries that are producing vaccines or the raw materials needed for them.
EU Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis explicitly pointed at Britain earlier this week, saying that since the end of January “some 10 million doses have been exported from the EU to the U.K. and zero doses have been exported from the U.K. to the EU.”
Meanwhile, the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned against a “vaccine war” among nations over renewed fears that vaccine shipments to the continent face delays.
John Nkengasong said in a briefing Thursday that he “truly feels helpless that this situation is going to significantly impact our ability to fight this virus,” referring to reports that the Serum Institute of India is suspending major exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine in order to meet rising demand at home.
“Without ramping [up] access to vaccines we will be challenged, continue to be challenged. Lives will be lost,” Nkengasong said, noting that he remains hopeful “the power of humanity will prevail.”
He added: “There is absolutely no need, absolutely no need for us as humanity to go into a vaccine war to fight this pandemic. We will all be losers.”
The Serum Institute of India produces the AstraZeneca shots being shipped to Africa through the international Covax initiative to ensure vaccine access for low- and middle-income countries. At least 28 of Africa’s 54 countries have received over 16 million doses through Covax as of Thursday.
Vaccine shipments through Covax continue to arrive across Africa. South Sudan, for example, on Thursday received its first batch of 132,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in what WHO called “a giant step” toward equitable distribution of covid-19 vaccines worldwide.
But Covax has been facing delays related to the limited global supply of vaccine doses as well as logistical issues. That’s why some countries such as South Africa, the hardest-hit African nation, also are pursuing covid-19 vaccines through bilateral deals and through the African Union’s bulk-purchasing program.
At least 10 African countries are yet to receive vaccines, according to the World Health Organization’s regional office for Africa. Those countries include Tanzania, Burundi, Eritrea, Cameroon, and Chad.
Africa hopes to vaccinate 60% of its 1.3 billion people by mid-2022 in order to achieve herd immunity, when enough people are protected through infection or vaccination to make it difficult for a virus to continue to spread. That amounts to about 1.5 billion vaccine doses.