(Brussels) The EU will tighten its control of exports of vaccines produced on its soil in the face of a third epidemic wave which forces new restrictions, even if Germany finally gave up on Wednesday to confine for Easter.
Posted on March 24, 2021 at 12:43 p.m.
–
–
Under the bronca, Chancellor Angela Merkel did an about-face Wednesday by acknowledging a personal “mistake” and asked “forgiveness” for trying to impose closures on shops and religious services.
The day before at dawn, after twelve hours of discussions between the Chancellor and the 16 regional states, Berlin had decided to put the country under cover for Easter. “The situation is serious, very serious,” said the Chancellor.
Deemed insufficient by scientists, the planned “break” of 1is on April 5 was criticized from all sides, associations of traders fearing the economic impact on Christians deprived of Easter Mass “face to face”.
Berlin is nevertheless considering a temporary ban on certain trips abroad.
Europe continues to bear the brunt of an increase in contamination and hospitalizations due to the coronavirus and its variants, considered more deadly and contagious.
“Very serious epidemiological situation”
Belgium has announced a tightening of restrictions in shops and schools next week while Poland has recorded a record number of COVID-19 infections, with nearly 30,000 cases.
In this context, the European Union has decided to curb the leakage of anti-COVID-19 vaccines to other countries, in particular the United Kingdom.
“The EU is facing a very serious epidemiological situation and continues to export significant volumes to countries” producing their own vaccines or where vaccination is more advanced, said Vice President of the European Executive Valdis Dombrovskis .
The current export control mechanism has been tightened to “secure” supplies to the Twenty-Seven. Member States whose populations are already widely vaccinated or benefit from a better epidemiological situation will thus have to refuse exports.
And while the control mechanism previously provided for exceptions for dozens of destinations (low-income countries, some EU neighboring states), all these exemptions are suspended, apart from a handful of micro-states.
The EU exported some 10 million doses of all vaccines to the UK between 1is February and mid-March, but did not receive any dose produced on British soil, while the contract signed by AstraZeneca provided for the delivery of doses produced in two factories in the United Kingdom.
“The European Union will not be the turkey of the vaccination joke,” warned French government spokesman Gabriel Attal, saying AstraZeneca has not kept its commitments to the EU.
The tightening of export controls nevertheless divides the Twenty-Seven.
Break for Pfizer in Asia
After the accusations of the AstraZeneca vaccine, in Europe and the United States, it is that of Pfizer / BioNTech that poses a problem in Macao and Hong Kong: its use was suspended there after the discovery of defective capsules on a batch.
“We threw away the vials when we saw that they had defects before they were injected. They were not administered to residents, ”said Hong Kong Minister of Health Sophia Chan.
As a precautionary principle, the current vaccination was suspended for the duration of the investigation. Many vaccines are shipped in concentrated form in vials and are then diluted before administration.
In addition to Pfizer / BioNTech, the people of Hong Kong can be vaccinated with the Chinese Sinovac vaccine called CoronaVac.
However, before this incident of capsules, a Hong Kong clinic was excluded from the territory’s vaccination program for having probably recommended that patients opt for the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine rather than the Chinese.
This sanction illustrates how sensitive the issue of the Chinese vaccine is to the Hong Kong authorities, when its effectiveness is comparatively lower and it was approved urgently despite a lack of published data.
Purchase coupons
The pandemic has killed at least 2.73 million people worldwide since the end of December, according to a report established by AFP from official sources on Wednesday.
And concern is mounting in South America in the face of the explosion of contaminations in Brazil.
In Africa, Mauritania on Wednesday received its first delivery of vaccine against COVID-19, 50,000 doses of Sinopharm donated by China.
This country is the latest in Africa to benefit from such a donation, a manifestation of the diplomacy led by the Asian giant around the provision of vaccines.
In China precisely, a suburb of Beijing, Daxing (1.8 million inhabitants) on Wednesday launched a campaign offering coupons to those who agree to be vaccinated.
More than 479 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in at least 164 countries or territories, according to a count made by AFP from official sources on Wednesday.
–
