Coronavirus: EU plans tougher controls on vaccine exports
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission has proposed tougher controls on Covid vaccine exports after it accused UK-Swedish firm AstraZeneca of failing to honour its contract to supply EU countries.
The plans, to go before EU leaders on Thursday, stop short of a ban but could enflame tensions with the UK.
Any shipment would be assessed on the destination country's rate of vaccinations and vaccine exports.
Meanwhile, millions of AZ doses have reportedly been found in Italy.
La Stampa website says some 29 million vaccine doses due to be shipped to the UK were being stored at the Catalent plant in Anagni near Rome but were discovered by Italian inspectors as part of an investigation by the European Commission.
Italian military police did not deny the raid took place, but when asked by the BBC about the report, the foreign ministry in Rome and the Italian prime minister's office refused to comment. The plant has a contract with AstraZeneca to "fill and finish" its vaccines and is set to do the same for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, also approved for use in the EU.
The reported discovery comes weeks after the Italian government blocked the export of 250,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia, as part of new EU regulations allowing a shipment to be stopped if a company is seen as failing to meet its obligations to the 27 member states.
Italy blocks AstraZeneca shipment to Australia
The latest EU proposals are aimed at securing vaccine supplies. When asked whether the aim was to punish the UK in particular, EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said: "We're dealing with a pandemic and this is not seeking to punish any countries."
As infections rise across Europe, member states are trying to speed up Covid vaccination campaigns after a sluggish start, blamed partly on delayed deliveries of the AZ drug as well as safety checks.
Germany had announced a strict five-day lockdown over Easter, but in a dramatic announcement on Wednesday Chancellor Angela Merkel called it off after talks with state leaders. "This mistake is my mistake alone," she said, explaining that it had been decided with the best of intentions.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Wednesday that on average 170,000 daily vaccinations had been carried out this month and that the objective was to increase that to half a million. He highlighted the large number of sites and people taking part in the UK vaccination drive.
"We must ask pharmaceutical companies to fully respect their commitments on a European level," Mr Draghi said, calling for a supply chain that was not vulnerable to shocks and decisions made elsewhere.
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