The European Union (EU) is struggling to meet the vaccine needs of its member countries.
EU countries have chosen to pool their orders.
However, several members have decided to go it alone and turn to Russian and Chinese vaccines to alleviate the shortage.
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Neither the Sputnik V vaccine, nor that of the Sinopharm laboratory, received the green light from the European Medicines Agency (EMA), unlike the Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna or AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccines.
Initially greeted with suspicion and even contempt in the EU, Sputnik V - named after the first Soviet satellite - is now crowned with a good evaluation in the medical journal
Lancet
.
For its part, the European Commission estimated, through the voice of a spokesperson on Tuesday 23 February, that apart from vaccines already covered by the common strategy, "
nothing was preventing Member States from having talks or contracts
”with pharmaceutical companies.
Hungary, first EU country to vaccinate with Sputnik V
Hungary was the first in Europe to inoculate the Russian vaccine to its people.
A few weeks later, on February 24, she announced that she had ordered doses of the Chinese vaccine and Viktor Orban, her prime minister, was vaccinated with the Chinese product four days later.
"
Without the Chinese and Russian vaccines, we would have big problems,
" Viktor Orban said on Friday February 26.
The country has already ordered five million doses of the vaccine from Sinopharm.
To date, nearly half a million Hungarians have received at least one dose, mostly of the Pfizer vaccine.
Slovakia and Czech Republic follow suit, Austria reflects
Other countries have followed suit.
Slovakia received its first delivery of the Sputnik V vaccine on March 1.
Its prime minister, Igor Matovic, has announced that the country is expected to receive a first million doses of the vaccine in March and April, followed by another million in May and June.
Its neighbor, the Czech Republic, is waiting its turn.
"
Information from the Russian embassy suggests that it
[the delivery of Russian vaccines]
could arrive in the next few days,
" President Milos Zeman said on Sunday (February 28th).
In parallel with these expected deliveries, the Czech president also plans to use the vaccine from the Chinese laboratory Sinopharm, but for the time being, no order seems to have been placed.
“
Sixty-five countries around the world want the Russian vaccine, including six EU countries, so why say 'My God, this is terrible!'?
», Said Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis.
“
Believe me when I say that EU member states will also be asking for the Sputnik vaccine in a few months,
” he added.
Another central European country, Austria has announced that it is also in talks with Russia for a possible order while declaring itself open to deliveries of Chinese vaccines.
Poland in negotiations with China
Polish President Andrzej Duda spoke with Xi Jinping on Monday, March 1, to discuss vaccine deliveries, according to online media
Politico
.
"
At the request of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the president also raised the issue of Polish-Chinese cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, including the possibility of purchasing vaccines produced in China by Poland,
" said said the chief of staff, Krzysztof Szczerski, quoted by the Polish public agency PAP.
For its part, China has said it is ready to ensure these deliveries.
In a statement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said: "
China is ready to provide COVID-19 vaccines to Poland according to the country's needs as far as possible
."
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is too slow to approve vaccines and there are supply bottlenecks from pharmaceutical companies ”
Sebastian Kurz, Austrian Chancellor
Austria, Denmark partner with Israel to prepare 2nd generation vaccine
In addition to its vaccine negotiations with Russia, Austria has announced that it is preparing for the coming years by launching a cooperation program with Denmark and Israel.
"
We must therefore prepare for other changes and no longer depend solely on the EU for the production of second generation vaccines
," said Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
If the Austrian Chancellor recognized that the common approach of Brussels was "
correct in principle
", he deplored the management of the file by the EU.
“
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is too slow to approve vaccines and there are supply bottlenecks from pharmaceutical companies,
” he said in a statement.
On Thursday March 4, Sebastian Kurtz will travel to Israel where he is to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in order to launch this unprecedented partnership, covering both the production and research of vaccines.