France backing Italy in vaccine exports ban

BRUSSELS — Europe’s vaccine solidarity got a boost on Friday after France said it could emulate Italy’s move to block coronavirus vaccine exports outside the European Union if that’s what is needed to enforce the bloc’s own contracts with drugs manufacturers.

The European Union defended the Italian authorities’ decision to stop a large shipment of doses destined for Australia as part of a longstanding feud with drug manufacturer AstraZeneca.

The EU’s executive arm said the decision was not targeting Australia but that it had been taken to ensure that AstraZeneca delivers the number of doses it committed to dispatching to EU countries.

“The fact is that the European Union is a major exporter of vaccine doses,” said EU Commission chief spokesman Eric Mamer.

Faced with dose shortages during the early stages of the vaccine campaign, the EU announced in early January an export control mechanism halting deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines outside the bloc in a bid to force companies to respect their contractual obligations to the bloc first.

Since the mechanism entered into force on Jan. 30, the Commission said that 174 authorizations of vaccine exports to 30 different countries outside the EU have been approved.

The EU has been particularly upset by AstraZeneca because the company is delivering far fewer doses to the bloc than it had promised. Of the initial order for 80 million doses to the EUin the first quarter this year, the company will be struggling to deliver half that quantity.

Several countries have expressed their frustration over the slow rollout of doses and are looking for extra supply of vaccines outside of the joint procurement set up by the EU.

But Italy’s decision to block the shipment of more than 250,000 AstraZeneca doses destined for Australia closed ranks between member states. French health minister Olivier Veran said he “understood” the Italian’s government decision and indicated France “could do the same.”