To think that the EU have done more to endorse Brexit in the last 2 weeks than the UK managed in nearly 5 years

[Butterflyfluff]

I’ll start by saying I’ve never thought Brexit was in the long term interest of the UK and still don’t

But dear God, the EU’s behaviour over vaccinations and, in particular, the blatant prejudice around the Astra Zeneca vaccine has done more to endorse the UK leaving than anything that has been said in the UK before, during and after the vote

@jasjas1973 you still don't get the only reason the uk will be vaccinating 20 year olds before is also because of out gap between vaccines, the eu are free to do this
The eu claim they will vaccinate all by end of summer , the uk is first jab by end of july
The second jabs for the 18 year olds etc will be end of october , if the eu introduces a larger gap they can also get further into the groups
Fair enough if they don't want to stick to the schedule ,also look at how much they have vaccinated compared to vaccine they have and its very different from country to
Country

we didn't pay massively over the odds for vaccines, we heavily put money into development of an at cost vaccine that will help a lot of the world out hopefully long term as not all can afford the jabs , the uk has also heavily donated to covax as well again helping lesser countries out

Have you forgotten about the other vaccines bought, the ones not developed in part in the UK?

@QuentinInQuarantino no they haven't but its been threatened and thats enough
Your right though it seems some eu leaders don't agree this is the way to go especially when you see it has little impact in speeding up the eu rollout as Uk simply isn't due enough to make an indent into the large amount needed in the eu
It seems to be one or two shouting and causing the issue with others a little more quiet
Lessons learned that maybe sometimes is not best to procure for all and sometimes its better done on a smaller scale

@jellybellybanana yes we have invested a lot but nobody knew which ones would work and we don't know yet if we may need yearly vaccinations , no one does
Plus we have pledged to donate spare vaccines to covax as well as the money given , which means other countries can be vaccinated as we need the world vaccinated, so this is a good thing
The eu have also bought more than needed for similar reasons

But for a lot less money, was the point.

This is very silly. The EU took very little risk on vaccine development. Vaccine nationalism is actually a good thing, because countries are incentivised to develop vaccines.

The EU did not think along those lines. They just think it is a question of price, export and access. That is why that they have done a poor job.

And they are still not thinking long term. In threatening pharma companies, wanting to take patents etc, the long term prospects for vaccine development is looking poor.

Strategically the EU are a mess. What happens when they need new vaccines or have to talk to pharma companies?

@donewithitalltodayandxmas Boris put WARSHIPS in the channel, if were talking about threats!

I also feel it needs repeating that the EU is not a country.

Lex I agree with your posts

Strategically the EU are a mess. What happens when they need new vaccines or have to talk to pharma companies?
Why would they?
That is the job of sovereign governments

and chances are that when the next pandemic comes the WHO will do the coordinating.

[quote donewithitalltodayandxmas]@Cailleach1 we were never getting stock from the us so their ban doesn't affect the uk , its not contracted to come from the us[/quote]
Don't be silly. The supply chains for medicines are global and can be very long. The UK is reliant on getting 'stock'; materials and vaccines from outside the UK.

The US export ban does very much effect the UK supplies of AZ vaccines in this instance. Even Hancock has stated that the availability of AZ vaccine supplies will greatly reduce for the 4 weeks after March 29th. This is directly due to the biggest vaccine plant in the world (Serum Institute of India) being unable to get materials from the US in order to fulfil their UK orders; as the US have slapped an export ban on them.

The supply chains for medicines are global and can be very long. The UK is reliant on getting 'stock'; materials and vaccines from outside the UK.
THIS
Vaccine nationalism
is as stupid as all types of jingoistic drawbridge pulling.

@Cailleach1 not sure if thats correct O thought india delay was because it was going elsewhere as the us have had an export ban in place from the beginning?
Do you have a source that is why its postponed ? As not what I am reading as the us have not made any recent bans

@QuentinInQuarantino Im fully aware the eu is not a country , read my posts where I have stated its just a few in the eu shouting and a couple of european leaders with the vast majority saying nothing and a few against

@jellybellybanana when peoples lifes are at risk I am glad on this thing the uk threw money at this and this won't just help the uk but the world

If you do not have vaccine nationalism, you do not get vaccines.

No pharma company is going to be interested in dealing with the EU MS because they do not need all the difficulty that comes with it.

Maybe there will be domestic production in the EU, but the problem is the same, manufacturing capacity, and frankly the EU haven’t supported that and have actually threatened that, while simultaneously not putting up money to assist those companies with risk.

The US and the UK cultivated these relationships and it has paid off. The EU has actually damaged the long term prospects of vaccine development in its borders.

Extrapolate that to other sectors during a pandemic. They have been very stupid.

@jellybellybanana one thing not be proud of is that they paid less for vaccines but got them slower and az is a not for profit vaccine so there is no money to be made , this is what the uk bought the most of but also heavily invested in r & d , i think uk and usa have put the most into developing per capita and thats a good thing

www.indiatoday.in/coronavirus-outbreak/story/serum-institute-to-delay-vaccine-exports-over-india-shortage-1781876-2021-03-21

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56438629

economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/healthcare/biotech/healthcare/adar-poonawalla-who-warn-of-delays-as-us-prioritises-pfizer/articleshow/81359554.cms?from=mdr

[quote donewithitalltodayandxmas]@jellybellybanana when peoples lifes are at risk I am glad on this thing the uk threw money at this and this won't just help the uk but the world [/quote]
Pity they didn't think about saving lives earlier

when peoples lifes are at risk I am glad on this thing the uk threw money at this and this won't just help the uk but the world

It won't really though.

The US and the UK cultivated these relationships and it has paid off. The EU has actually damaged the long term prospects of vaccine development in its borders.
The EU is not a country.
France and Germany and Belgium are countries
and they have vaccine manufacturing in their borders.

@jellybellybanana

when peoples lifes are at risk I am glad on this thing the uk threw money at this and this won't just help the uk but the world

It won't really though.

What won’t? The AZ vaccine won’t save lives?

@jellybellybanana of course it will , already covax has issued az vaccines to some countries who cannot afford them
Without any investment in R & D we would maybe not have vaccines and the more available that work , the more chance of vaccinating as many people as possible.
How can you say otherwise

@jellybellybanana your talking crap quite frankly , any money any country has put into developing a vaccine will eventually help us all. Wether thats uk money , us or eu money or anywhere else . The more vaccines we have and better capacity the better for all

@ListeningQuietly

The US and the UK cultivated these relationships and it has paid off. The EU has actually damaged the long term prospects of vaccine development in its borders. The EU is not a country. France and Germany and Belgium are countries and they have vaccine manufacturing in their borders.

So long as the EU set export rules, then this is only a potential advantage; aren’t they giving incentive to pharma companies to minimise, because of their sabre rattling.