Delays in rolling out vaccine

[Paul O Mahoney]

Denmark took up options on Pfizer doses other EU countries declined.
I think questions have to be asked why we didn't look into that.

If they did its not apparent from the EU data, Denmark has received 934000 again upto 14th of March which would be in line with population.

Edit: Denmark has 12.5% first doses administered and we have 12% (14/3).
Just adding this for information.

 

[Sunny]

People who know quite a lot about this seem to agree that the HSE would struggle to keep up with a significant increase in vaccine arrivals. The promised IT system isn't functional, the vaccinator recruitment programme has almost collapsed amid its bureaucratic morass, pharmacies designated as "community vaccination centres" haven't been told yet, nobody has figured out how to reach those who don't have a permanent GP, etc. etc. Claims that one million people per month will be vaccinated are not credible.

Yeah, I wouldn't have much faith either. It's pure pot luck what GP you are with. I know of a household with two people where the wife is 75 and the husband is 83 and recovering from a stroke. They have different GP's in Dublin. The wife got offered a vaccine before the husband. When she asked if the vaccine could be given to her husband, she was told no and that he will be contacted by his GP. She just about got over that when she heard her 22 year old grand daughter working in an accounts department in a hospital got vaccinated. That sent her over the edge.

 

[odyssey06]

If they did its not apparent from the EU data, Denmark has received 934000 again upto 14th of March which would be in line with population.

Some countries didn't take their full allocation of Pfizer and Moderna as they were more expensive than AZ
e.g. Poland took 6 million out of 13 million option.
Portugal, Bulgaria, Greece, Belgium likewise didn't take up their full allocations by population.

Germany and Denmark are taking up that allocation.

Thanks to deep pockets, Germany snaps up extra coronavirus jabs

Some EU countries bet too heavily on the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

www.politico.eu

In quarter 2, Denmark will be getting 200,000 per week in April from Pfizer, but it's not totally clear if that is the initial common EU allocation or includes some of these additional doses.

 

[Paul O Mahoney]

Some countries didn't take their full allocation of Pfizer and Moderna as they were more expensive than AZ
e.g. Poland took 6 million out of 13 million option.
Germany and Denmark are taking up that allocation.

Thanks to deep pockets, Germany snaps up extra coronavirus jabs

Some EU countries bet too heavily on the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

www.politico.eu

In quarter 2, Denmark will be getting 200,000 per week in April from Pfizer, but it's not totally clear if that is the initial common EU allocation or includes some of these additional doses.

Thanks Never knew about this.

 

[joe sod]

I have to say quite an interesting thread now finding out alot of things that are not being widely reported. It's obvious that vaccine procurement and roll out has become deeply political. There will be big casualties (political ones) as a result of this.

 

[odyssey06]

Thanks Never knew about this.

Apparently we did chase this up but were too late to the 'vaccine bazaar' and only managed to get 138,000 extra doses.

 

[odyssey06]

Details on proposed new export regulations from European Commission:

The new regulation will go substantially further than the initial export control mechanism imposed by the Commission in January, which allowed EU countries or the Commission to block shipments only of vaccines made by companies that were failing to fulfill their contractual obligations to the EU. The new rules will add provisions to cover the concepts of "reciprocity" and "proportionality," a senior EU official said late Tuesday — meaning that shipments could be blocked to countries where vaccines are produced but that don't show reciprocity by exporting doses, as well as to countries that have managed to achieve far higher vaccination rates among their population than the EU.
On both counts, this would potentially allow the Commission to block shipments to the U.K. not only of the AstraZeneca vaccine, given that company's failure to deliver promised doses, but also of vaccines made by BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna.

European Commission to propose tougher vaccine export rules

Formal proposal follows days of threats and complaints about UK refusing to show ‘reciprocity.’

www.politico.eu

 

[Paul O Mahoney]

Details on proposed new export regulations from European Commission:

The new regulation will go substantially further than the initial export control mechanism imposed by the Commission in January, which allowed EU countries or the Commission to block shipments only of vaccines made by companies that were failing to fulfill their contractual obligations to the EU. The new rules will add provisions to cover the concepts of "reciprocity" and "proportionality," a senior EU official said late Tuesday — meaning that shipments could be blocked to countries where vaccines are produced but that don't show reciprocity by exporting doses, as well as to countries that have managed to achieve far higher vaccination rates among their population than the EU.
On both counts, this would potentially allow the Commission to block shipments to the U.K. not only of the AstraZeneca vaccine, given that company's failure to deliver promised doses, but also of vaccines made by BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna.

European Commission to propose tougher vaccine export rules

Formal proposal follows days of threats and complaints about UK refusing to show ‘reciprocity.’

www.politico.eu

If the EU do this it's akin to hitting a hornets nest with a stick.
The efforts of everyone should be to fix the issues that are causing the problems. That Dutch plant is due to be authorised by the EMA tomorrow, wheres the update on that?

 

[odyssey06]

If the EU do this it's akin to hitting a hornets nest with a stick.
The efforts of everyone should be to fix the issues that are causing the problems. That Dutch plant is due to be authorised by the EMA tomorrow, wheres the update on that?

I am hoping they are waving a big stick around so they don't have to use it...

Good point on the supply issues but no new news on authorisation of the Halix plant afaik.

 

[EasilyAmused]

Boris Johnson has attributed the U.K.’s enviable Covid-19 vaccine rollout success to capitalism and greed.

 

[Merowig]

Italian authorities discover 29M Oxford/AstraZeneca doses: La Stampa

Discovery comes as AstraZeneca faces harsh criticism over delivery shortfalls.

www.politico.eu

Allegedly to another Article these are for export to the UK - and France and Italy want to stop any deliveries.

 

[Sunny]

This is going to get very messy. The fight will move from finished vaccines to raw materials and will endanger all vaccine production. Time for political leaders to actually show leadership. Comments out of London and EU overnight don't inspire confidence though

 

[Paul O Mahoney]

Italian authorities discover 29M Oxford/AstraZeneca doses: La Stampa

Discovery comes as AstraZeneca faces harsh criticism over delivery shortfalls.

www.politico.eu

Allegedly to another Article these are for export to the UK - and France and Italy want to stop any deliveries.

Reading that simply shows that there is very little production problems within the AZ network, despite AZ saying that yields were not what they forecasted.

The EU better authorise that plant pronto.

 

[odyssey06]

Reading that simply shows that there is very little production problems within the AZ network, despite AZ saying that yields were not what they forecasted.

The EU better authorise that plant pronto.

Apparently I am reading on twitter these doses were lined up for Canada and Mexico (not UK) and given the lower vaccination rates there would be 'exportable'

 

[Paul O Mahoney]

Apparently I am reading on twitter these doses were lined up for Canada and Mexico (not UK) and given the lower vaccination rates there would be 'exportable'

New York Times are quoting AZ 16m we're for Europe and 13m for Covax but no confirmation from AZ when asked.

I think we can all agree that they aren't exactly transparent.
The EU have also said that they weren't destined for the UK.

 

[odyssey06]

New York Times are quoting AZ 16m we're for Europe and 13m for Covax but no confirmation from AZ when asked.

I think we can all agree that they aren't exactly transparent.
The EU have also said that they weren't destined for the UK.

Reading between the lines, they are not being transparent as the UK has them locked into a watertight contract (under UK law).
And they didn't disclose this to the EU when signing the contract with them, BUT the penalties in the EU contract (Belgian law) are nothing like UK contract and that seems to be driving their priorities and behaviour like this.

 

[Paul O Mahoney]

"March 24, 2021Updated 9:58 a.m. ET
BRUSSELS — A stockpile of 29 million doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine that were found languishing in a facility in Italy became the new flash point on Wednesday in the conflict between the pharmaceutical company and the European Union, as the bloc prepared to unveil stringent export restrictions primarily meant to stop drugmakers from sending doses abroad.

The Italian authorities found the vaccines in a site visit, European Union officials said, at a factory near Rome that is contracted to fill and finish Covid-19 vaccine vials for AstraZeneca.
The Italian authorities went to the site after receiving an alert from the European Commission, which found a discrepancy between what the company said it was producing in European Union facilities, and what the facilities themselves were reporting.
The presence of so many doses raised suspicions that the pharmaceutical company was trying to find a way to export them to Britain or elsewhere, something the bloc has demanded that AstraZeneca stop doing until the company fulfills its promises for deliveries.
The European Union was meant to receive more than 100 million vaccine doses from AstraZeneca in the first quarter of this year, but has received only 16.6 million. The supply shortage has helped to derail vaccination efforts across the 27 member countries and contributed to embarrassingly slow inoculation rates on the continent.
What has most irked the European Union is that AstraZeneca has been consistently delivering on its contract with Britain while letting the bloc take the brunt of its production failures that have diminished supplies. AstraZeneca has denied it has violated its E.U. contract. The bloc took the first step last week to litigate the issue by activating an amicable dispute mechanism with AstraZeneca, but there is no indication either party intends to take it to court.
The bloc tried to force AstraZeneca to deliver more doses by introducing a system of export authorizations on Feb. 1, but only one AstraZeneca shipment, a small batch headed to Australia, has been blocked since that came into force."

My attempt at posting NY times story.

 

[Sunny]

The really bizarre part of all this is that AZ are supposedly producing this on a non-profit basis yet they seemed to have signed commercial contracts with the UK especially that contain heavy penalties for non delivery. So they are now in the middle of this storm for zero return. Whole thing is mad.

 

[Paul O Mahoney]

With a Police Raid and the Threat of Export Curbs on Vaccines, the E.U. Plays Tough (Published 2021)

The bloc is tightening export rules in a bid to speed up its disappointing Covid inoculation campaign and stem political criticism.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Paul O Mahoney]

Reading between the lines, they are not being transparent as the UK has them locked into a watertight contract (under UK law).
And they didn't disclose this to the EU when signing the contract with them, BUT the penalties in the EU contract (Belgian law) are nothing like UK contract and that seems to be driving their priorities and behaviour like this.

"Good faith" just became worthless and I can see the EU really going after them now and really "holding their hands in the fire".
I'm now thinking that this has a few more twists.
Edit;
Apparently this was known by the EU on Monday ......