Serge Quoidbach
Associate Editor
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January 29, 2021
23:00
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Only Europe suffers from these repeated hiccups in the supply of vaccines. With this feeling more and more significant that the authorities have not taken the measure of the emergency.
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“Having an approval in less than twelve months creates a common problem: the start of production lines. “Clap, third! After Pfizer / BioNTech, after AstraZeneca, here is the French boss of Moderna who apologizes in turn on the LCI channel: sorry, European friends, we will not be able to provide you with the desired number of vaccines. The reason? The production sites cannot do this. Air now known … One after another, pharmaceutical companies are telling us about delivery delays, while the orders have been on their table for months, down to the dose. Are pharmas the only culprits? No. Because we can see it clearly today, only Europe experiences these repeated hiccups. With this feeling more and more significant that the authorities have not taken the measure of the emergency.
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Are pharmas the only culprits? No. As we can clearly see today, only Europe suffers these repeated hiccups.
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No, we don’t have the Europe of health. Compared to the United States, with their “Operation Warp Speed”, with their chief coordinator (an ex-GSK who came from Belgium), with their 4-star general, with their “battle rhythm”, these daily meetings bringing together defense, scientists, public authorities and industry, faced with this military offensive, Europe is a trainee in training.
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Faced with the United States’ military offensive, Europe is a trainee in training.
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Of course, it could be proud of grouping orders from Member States in order to weigh heavily on prices. But this concession given lip service by these same Member States only confused the decision-making processes. And here is the Commission, alone, reduced to waging an unarmed war against the pharma giants for non-compliance with contracts, even if it means create what looks like an unprecedented trade war by closely controlling the export of vaccines outside its territory.
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For the rest, the European executive is totally disarmed. And it is up to the States that this task of put pressure on their own actors to get out of the rut: Germany by facilitating the restart of a former Novartis site for the benefit of BioNTech / Pfizer; or France, which has brought Sanofi, which itself is struggling with its own vaccine, to keep pace with its production lines. Decisions taken in disaster, which will take several weeks to bear fruit.
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If Europe is at war against the virus, it has gone off with a gun. A culpable lack of preparation that pays cash today.
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Waiting, delays are piling up, vaccination programs are seized upt. Madrid and Catalonia have announced a break, as have Portugal; Paris and the north of France postpone the injection of the first doses from 2 to 4 weeks. Every week that goes without vaccines brings its share of deaths. Each week that passes postpones our return to normalcy and the revival of our economies. If Europe is at war against the virus, it has gone off with a gun. A culpable lack of preparation that pays cash today.
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