Germany is currently complaining that there is not enough corona vaccine available.
Well there is a bad guess.
Jens Spahn even calls for export restrictions.
There is also a shortage of the various
corona vaccines
.
An announcement by the Swedish-British manufacturer
Astrazeneca is
causing a stir.
The EU now wants to introduce
export controls
for corona vaccines.
Brussels - The debate about the
corona vaccines
continues to generate
waves.
The Swedish-British manufacturer
Astrazeneca
reported on Friday that after approval of its product, far fewer doses would initially be delivered to the EU than previously agreed.
The EU Commission called this "unacceptable" on Monday.
Corona vaccine: fuss about delivery bottlenecks - EU wants to take explosive step
There is a suspicion that manufacturers are supplying vaccination doses to non-EU countries - at the expense of the EU, as the supply contracts with Europe would therefore not be kept.
The Commission therefore wants to react now:
vaccine exports from the EU should in future have to be recorded and approved.
The EU Commission proposed a so-called
transparency register
for this on Monday
.
At the same time, the Brussels authorities
put pressure
on
Astrazeneca
to deliver promised vaccine quantities without compromises and without delay - but initially without success.
Corona vaccine: EU pre-financed funds - and is now not supplied
The company's answers have not yet been satisfactory, said EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides on Monday evening after an internal meeting with the EU countries and
Astrazeneca
.
Therefore, another meeting was scheduled for the evening.
The
EU
wants the ordered and pre-financed vaccine doses to be delivered as soon as possible.
“We want our contract to be fully fulfilled,” said Kyriakides.
The EU Commission had agreed with the company in August to deliver up to 400 million vaccine doses.
According to its own information, the authority paid a three-digit million amount to ramp up production before EU approval.
According to the EU Commission, the group should have been stockpiling quantities for the EU since October.
Corona vaccine: Astrazeneca delivers significantly less than agreed
However, Astrazeneca said on Friday that after the approval expected for this week, less vaccine than agreed would be delivered to the EU.
Instead of 80 million vaccine doses, according to the EU, there should be only 31 million by the end of March.
The reason given was that there were problems in the European supply chain.
But there is a suspicion that pre-produced vaccine doses could have been sold to other buyers.
Kyriakides said the EU had pre-funded development and production capacity for the vaccine.
"The EU wants to know where exactly which cans have been produced by Astrazeneca so far and to whom they have been delivered," said the health commissioner.
The CDU European politician Peter Liese criticized that Astrazeneca "apparently delivers to other parts of the world, including Great Britain, without delay".
The reason for the delivery difficulties in the EU is threadbare, said Liese.
Corona vaccine: EU with massive allegations against manufacturers - Spahn calls for export controls
Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) demanded in Berlin: “
We as the EU must be able to know whether and which vaccines are exported from the EU.
This is the only way we can understand whether our EU contracts with manufacturers are being served fairly.
A corresponding obligation to approve vaccine exports at EU level makes sense. "
. @ jensspahn on the delivery bottlenecks for # Corona vaccines: "The #EU must be able to know whether & which vaccines are exported. This way we can understand whether the EU contracts are being served fairly. An obligation to approve #vaccine exports makes sense at EU level. "
- BMG (@BMG_Bund) January 25, 2021
The EU Commission is pursuing this with its "transparency register", which, according to information from EU circles, is to be introduced within a few days.
Kyriakides said all companies that produced Covid-19 vaccines in the EU would have to register in advance if they wanted to export to third countries.
Humanitarian deliveries are not affected.
The commission itself has been criticized for negotiating framework agreements with the manufacturers, but for the time being only relatively few corona vaccines are arriving in the 27 countries.
The vaccination campaign is paralyzed, while new virus variants spread and states continue to restrict daily life and travel.
The EU Commission also made a proposal on Monday.
Stricter test and quarantine rules are to be introduced for certain countries and regions.
In Germany, new rules for entry have been in effect since Sunday for more than 20 countries with particularly high numbers of infections.
Other EU countries have already tightened their requirements.
(dpa / rjs)