Why should the UK vaccine supply be diverted to Europe?

[lovelemoncurd]

They ordered 3 months later than the UK. They have themselves less time to sort glitches. They have been slow to the table and now they wish to punish to UK for being efficient.

I was a remain voter. I'm starting to change my mind!

Yep, reminds me of bad ex behaviour - fuck ups never their fault, blame the now distant ex, it's a conspiracy, it's so unfair etc etc.

Woah? Where is this written?

It's not going to be though is it?

The Germans have requested that our supply is diverted but AZ have said that it won't be - as it stands at the moment.

Cheeky f!

It is an interesting one, and it shows that nation state still has meaning in a world of globalisation.

Ultimately, the only way to ensure you get something, especially something so important, is to make it yourself.

I don’t know if the EU will actually be prepared to supersede contract law and, effectively, steal the vaccine from us. It would definitely play into brexiteer hands and prove that we should never have allowed the ECJ to rule on disputes.

In addition, I find it interesting the way nation states committed to their citizens to ensure vaccine supply regardless of cost, where’s the EU behaved much more like a large corporate and made a slow and, ultimately, poor decision in its vaccine purchases.

Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

UK will vaccinate up to 30 million people by March, AstraZeneca CEO says

f7td5.app.goo.gl/B6m4qN

According to that link

Speaking to La Repubblica, Mr Soriot repeated the point: "I can only tell you the facts and the facts are that we basically signed an agreement with the UK three months before we did have it with Europe.

"When we entered the agreement with Oxford, they had already been working with the UK government on this. So they had a head start. We were able to quite quickly take the UK supply chain and improve it."

He described the lack of supply for the EU as "really bad luck".

"We've also had teething issues like this in the UK supply chain.But the UK contract was signed three months before the European vaccine deal," he said.

"So with the UK we have had an extra three months to fix all the glitches we experienced. As for Europe, we are three months behind in fixing those glitches."

It shouldn't. It's that simple. But the EU is amazing and can do no wrong so... let's let them have it anyway

It shouldn't

The EU can fuck off

@Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady

It shouldn't

The EU can fuck off

Exactly. Early bird catches the worms. There's no way that the EU would give us some of their vaccines if they'd been first in the line for ordering it and we were straggling behind.

I'm not a brexit supporter BUT this shows that in emergencies, bureaucratic institutes that try to sort out the needs of 27 countries are not great - most people, naturally, want their politicians to put their country first....

I am a staunch remainer

But they can get to fuck

It’s worth pointing out some EU nations are also ignoring the EU vaccine guidelines and ordering more (Germany included)

You snooze, you lose. I’m sure that would also be the response of the boot was on the other foot

I don't think it's right that the UK - or any other country - should be allowed to vaccinate more than than their highest priority groups.
Approx 30% of the population of the EU/EEA and the UK is either over 60 years old or has one of the underlying conditions associated with COVID-19 risk.
No country should be vaccinating more than that until ALL the highest risk group people have been vaccinated in all countries.
But that won't happen, the rich countries will vaccinate all they can regardless of what happens in other countries. The UK wanting to do this is just the start.

Exactly. Early bird catches the worms. There's no way that the EU would give us some of their vaccines if they'd been first in the line for ordering it and we were straggling behind.

Agreed!

@TooMuchYarn - Ridiculous, most people want their own people and country sorted first and as quickly as possible.

If I recall correctly there were a few EU countries who set the ball rolling with AstraZeneca at roughly the same time as the UK but the EU intervened to take over negotiations for the whole of the EU, which is how the 3 month delay occurred.

Delays on the Sanofi vaccine keep increasing (current ETA end of the year) and the other French vaccine has been abandoned entirely due to poor results. That company will now manufacture for Pfizer.

Do the EU not realise that we have also had months of delays and hold ups? All those headlines before Christmas about how many doses we were supposed to have and then the reality was quite a lot less. I wonder if they are under the impression we have had everything we were promised on time.
As far as I can see if we have enough now it’s because we spread our bets and massively over ordered.

@TooMuchYarn

I don't think it's right that the UK - or any other country - should be allowed to vaccinate more than than their highest priority groups. Approx 30% of the population of the EU/EEA and the UK is either over 60 years old or has one of the underlying conditions associated with COVID-19 risk. No country should be vaccinating more than that until ALL the highest risk group people have been vaccinated in all countries. But that won't happen, the rich countries will vaccinate all they can regardless of what happens in other countries. The UK wanting to do this is just the start.

The EU aren't poor. I don't see any reason we should sit on our hands because they still haven't approved the vaccine.

We have an absolutely shocking death rate from Covid, this alone is reason enough not to delay our vaccine program and wait for others.

It would be like making other countries wait for vaccines until they reach our death rate!

No country should be vaccinating more than that until ALL the highest risk group people have been vaccinated in all countries.

There are 7 billion people on the planet, and counting. Many live in countries with very poor health care and infrastructure. What you are proposing would take years, if it were even possible.

There's no reason but that individual nations look out for themselves. Remember at the start of this, the US blocked shipments of PPE out of the country?

I don't think we should delay our own vaccination program until other countries have caught up but we do need to participate in making vaccines readily available to all countries, it's the only viable option we have to get the world back to normal.

I suppose this is the one plus of Brexit so far. Likely the UK would have been held back by EU en masse vaccine plans if we'd still be in.

I, too, thought the EU had a cheek making those demands on AZ.

I found the La Repubblica article really interesting also.

www.repubblica.it/cronaca/2021/01/26/news/interview_pascal_soriot_ceo_astrazeneca_coronavirus_covid_vaccines-284349628/

Any vaccine exported to EU should be put on the refrigerated lorries containing Scottish fish

@TooMuchYarn

I don't think it's right that the UK - or any other country - should be allowed to vaccinate more than than their highest priority groups. Approx 30% of the population of the EU/EEA and the UK is either over 60 years old or has one of the underlying conditions associated with COVID-19 risk. No country should be vaccinating more than that until ALL the highest risk group people have been vaccinated in all countries. But that won't happen, the rich countries will vaccinate all they can regardless of what happens in other countries. The UK wanting to do this is just the start.

Such is life. People care about their own first. Yourself included, anyone that denies that is lying.