Filenews 25 January 2021
"The EU wants to know exactly what doses have been produced by AstraZeneca so far, and to whom they have been delivered if they have been delivered," Health Commissioner F. Kyriakidou, clarifying that "the company's responses during the steering committee discussion have so far not been satisfactory" and "a second meeting (of the same committee) is scheduled for tonight".
She announced that "today we discussed with the 27 Member States that an export transparency mechanism should be put in place as soon as possible. We want clarity on trade and full transparency regarding the export of vaccines from the EU," he made clear.
In particular, in a statement from Brussels, the Commissioner noted that, "you are aware that the AstraZeneca vaccine is currently in the final stages of the approval process with the EMA. If all requirements are met, the EMA could recommend a marketing authorisation by the end of this week. But there is a problem on the supply side. Last Friday, AstraZeneca informed the Commission and EU Member States that it intends to provide far fewer instalments in the coming weeks than agreed and announced. This new programme is not acceptable to the European Union."
So," she continues, "I wrote a letter to the company over the weekend in which I asked important and serious questions.
The European Union has pre-financed the development of the vaccine and production and wants to see the return on its investment. The EU wants to know what doses have been produced by AstraZeneca and where exactly so far and to whom they have been delivered. These questions were also discussed today in the Commission's Joint Steering Committee with the 27 Member States with AstraZeneca."
"The company's responses have so far not been satisfactory. That's why a second meeting is planned tonight," she announced.
"The EU wants the ordered and pre-funded vaccines delivered as soon as possible. And we want our contract fully fulfilled," she stressed.
"In addition, the Commission today proposed to the 27 Member States in the Steering Committee the establishment of an export transparency mechanism as soon as possible. The EU has supported the rapid development and production of many COVID19 vaccines with a total of EUR 2.7 billion. We want clarity on trade and full transparency regarding the export of vaccines from the EU . In the future, all companies producing COVID19 vaccines in the EU should provide early notification whenever they want to export vaccines to third countries. Humanitarian traditions, of course, are not affected by this. The EU will take the necessary measures to protect its citizens and rights," she concluded.
Source: eyenews/KYPE
