EU and the vaccine

[TheOstrich]

The USA is one of the countries, along with us, whom the EU are "considering" for restriction of exports. The fact that Biden will take part in the discussion (and not Johnson) is interesting ....

As I understand it, the US have a large AZ manufacturing plant waiting to go onstream in Ohio. I do not think they have officially approved the AZ vaccine yet, although that should be imminent.

[cromwell]

Joe Biden! That should be interesting. Especially if he has to answer a question

[Suff]

Yes wm, hard to get a straight story.

I knew the Italian factory was doing fill and finish, I didn't know the UK was sending vaccines there to be finalised.

Hopefully the commission will understand the implications of Barring the return of our own vaccines.

I know that the EU has been trying to get the US to bolster their vaccine supply by sharing US supplies with them. So far the US has said they will start sharing when they are out of danger. Which they certainly are not right now.

Inviting Biden to an EU summit can only be to try and gain some support from the US for their intended limitation of vaccine supply to other countries.

One thing is now certain, the globalisation of Pharma activities and the centralisation of manufacturing in a few countries is now officially dead. It will take a decade or more before things calm down enough for it to be attempted again.

[Suff]

The USA is one of the countries, along with us, whom the EU are "considering" for restriction of exports. The fact that Biden will take part in the discussion (and not Johnson) is interesting ....

This is what interested me.

There are two ways out of this. The first is that everyone sits down and discusses it as adults and makes sensible decisions. The second is someone presses the launch button and everyone gets hurt. It will be interesting to see which option is chosen. Especially as one of the main players is denied access to the discussion.

[Suff]

Perhaps an explanation of the greed statement from Boris?

From the Spectator.

The inconvenient fact for the EU is that you get what one pays for. The Commission decided to pay €1.78 (£1.53) per dose of AstraZeneca, as opposed to the £3 paid by the UK government. It is also paying €12 (£10.34) per dose for a dose of the Pfizer vaccine — not £15. Much as the health commissioner Stella Kyriakides may dislike the first-come, first-served logic, pharma companies are in the business of making money for the shareholders, not serving the most pressing societal needs.

This, perhaps, explains the AZ issue too. AZ have a single price scheme for vaccines. Yet the Commission drove AZ down to below the price India is paying.

Now they're complaining that AZ is making vaccines for other countries paying twice as much rather than for the EU. It is hardly surprising. I'm not sure how you halve the price of a "not for profit" vaccine? Apart from not actually getting any. It has to be loss making, surely?

I haven't validated that price so don't know where the spectator got it from, but, if true, it makes the EU Commission a bunch of avaricious idiots trying to prove a point.

[medsec222]

All this bullying and threatening makes me so glad the UK decided to cease membership of the EU - and perhaps there are a few who voted to remain who are glad that choice was made too. However, the octopus has long tentacles, unfortunately, and we haven't quite managed to escape completely.

It is sickening that there are large quantities of vaccine already in storage in Europe, that some people are still refusing to take it due to scaremongering by those who should know better, and the good name of a company which is prepared to forego profit to sell the vaccine at cost price price ensuring poorer nations are protected, has been brought into disrepute. Everybody needs to be vaccinated before we can be really safe, but finger pointing and the blame game is not the way forward - the EU is never wrong is it - but on this occasion it needs to own up to its own mess.

[Suff]

Yep well it didn't help them. Apparently Novavax is backing away from a deal with the EU. Apparently you really can trash your reputation just by threatening.

Looking at the article, then the situation, Novavax would wind up in the same situation as AZ. Namely that with the collaboration of the UK, back in August 2020, when the UK signed up for 60m doses and brought Novavax in as one of the 4 pharma companies interested in manufacturing in the UK, would create a capacity of 180m doses per year in collaboration with FUJIFILM Diosynth in stockton on Tees. Yet the only lab in the EU is in the Czech republic and cannot hope to meet the initial 100m doses the EU want let alone the additional 100m they may "choose" to order. Leaving Novavax in the position of reneging on the UK contract to send UK lab doses to the EU to avoid censure.

Simply put, if Novavax don't sign the deal with the EU until they have produced the 60m doses for the UK, then the problem goes away.

Amazing what you can do with a few words. Like kill your chances of additional vaccines in the middle of a 3rd wave of a deadly pandemic! If only we had politicians and leaders like this...