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!

If this is true, EU paid for the possibility of early production

I don't understand what you mean by this? The EU only signed a contract months after Britain did, and as of now, still haven't even got around to approving the vaccine.

If they wanted 'early production', they have a strange way of going about it.

Interesting that some EU countries are ignoring the fact that it's supposed to be a central ordering thing, and ordering their own. Just as they ignore other EU rules which they don't like. If we'd still been in the EU we would be at the back of the queue, as the UK has always been one of the few abiding by the rules, no matter how stupid or detrimental they are. The EU can feck off.

@IcedPurple Apparently eu paid Astra to produce the vaccines during the development and trials in order for them to be ready when approval happened. If the quote is true, Astra is suspected of having sold those vaccines paid by the EU to someone else (sold them twice so to speak).

I'm not knowledgeable about this but please don't make it a vaccine war.

I don’t understand this concept of early production either. What does that mean in practice? Especially when the AZ vaccine is not even approved in the EU.

Bloody hell at this rate it will become safe to admit to voting leave in public!

I do not understand why Israel can not pause their vaccination to allow other countries that have high cases to have some vaccine!

We developed it so please let's prioritise our own for once!

I agree that a vaccine war would be untenable but, really, that German MEP saying that AZ “will suffer for this” - just gosh.

[quote WinterdiscontentGlorioussummer]@IcedPurple Apparently eu paid Astra to produce the vaccines during the development and trials in order for them to be ready when approval happened. If the quote is true, Astra is suspected of having sold those vaccines paid by the EU to someone else (sold them twice so to speak).

I'm not knowledgeable about this but please don't make it a vaccine war.
[/quote]
Britain also paid for the vaccines - 3 months before the EU - and approved it over a month ago. To repeat, the EU hasn't even managed that yet. Should the vaccines have been let to gather dust in a warehouse pending the EU's approval rather than being put to use where they were very much needed?

As for not making it a 'vaccine war', why is this directed to us? Shouldn't that be directed towards the EU, who are the only ones bein obnoxious about this, presumably to cover their failure?

I'm not a Boris or brexit fan.

But for the first time I can see his enthusiasm for being a sovereign state and the benefits.

Imagine the outrage if a U.K. politician was saying things like the German MEP. Imagine the threads on here, the individual would be torn to shreds. And the blame would be rightly directly towards our govt failings rather than other countries who had got their act together. Yet the EU seems to be allowed to behave this way without condemnation. It’s wrong. And I can’t see the USA taking those threats re vaccine export blockages lightly either.

The media - especially the BBC - should be ashamed of themselves. Can’t they ever give us a bit of credit? No? I didn’t think so. It’s all our fault for being meeeean to the EU.

[quote Ohthatsgreat]Comments from German MEP Peter Liese seem to be upping the rhetoric around blockages of vaccines. Not good nor helpful:

twitter.com/darreneuronews/status/1354483646602817540?s=21[/quote]
unbelievable

What’s the good news from today he refers too?

It’ll come down to the contracts

Not posturing and fighting talk

Imagine if one of our MPs spouted that stuff

If we keep 'our' AstraZeneca vaccine, the EU will then be more likely to keep the Pfizer/BionTech vaccine and other vaccines manufactured in the EU.

Let's hope the AstraZeneca vaccine works and that it is indeed effective in the elderly and will protect us against variants.

Otherwise, we are in a spot of bother.

@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.

I think it's wrong that your wages go to feed your family when they should be shared out amongst all the people in the world. Why should just your family profit from your hard work?

I'm not knowledgeable about this but please don't make it a vaccine war.

I don’t think it’s us taking aggressive action.

I actually think Brexiteer Boris has been remarkably restrained, given the rhetoric from the EU

If we keep 'our' AstraZeneca vaccine, the EU will then be more likely to keep the Pfizer/BionTech vaccine and other vaccines manufactured in the EU.

I don't get your point. This is a contract disagreement between the EU and Astra Zeneca, not between the EU and Britain, despite some attempts to make it so.

@SaraGilbert - if our vaccine is potentially crap, then why are EU people frothing about it? They would say, “Fill yer boots” if they thought we were making a mistake. Instead they’re threatening and acting very petulantly, which implies the exact opposite.

I actually think Brexiteer Boris has been remarkably restrained, given the rhetoric from the EU

Yes he was remarkably diplomatic at the press conference despite people trying to draw him into the row.

What a flipping mess and a foreseeable one.
If there's only 1 factory in Belgium producing phizzer currently then its no wonder they struggling to keep up with demand and supply.
The European medicines agency been so late to approve.
I thought they approved moderna other week which made no sense as moderna already said they cannot deliver to UK or Europe untl spring.
The European medicine agency been sat on Oxford data for months and ironically they arguing about a brand if vaccine they still not approved.
Hungary has said screw this and authorised and ordered from Russia.

www.politico.eu/article/hungary-oks-oxford-astrazeneca-sputnik-coronavirus-vaccines/

I do wish we could help out our freinds in the Republic of Ireland who we share a land border from and we want to maintain the peace .
I know Ireland been struggling and their healthcare supporting Northern Ireland healthcare.
We have a very close trading relationship and lots people going back and forth between roi and UK.

www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1386888/Brexit-news-oxford-vaccine-ireland-micheal-martin-coronavirus-covid19

UK hasent done much right
But we ordered several different vaccines

I thought France tried to push eu buy sannofi in massive quantity which is delayed and 2nd french vaccine been a fail failure.
Phizer and moderna are American predominantly.
Oxford is not for profit and produced several factories all around the world.
UK also donated loads money for vaccines for poorer countries
I don't think UK or Oxford on wrong here.
The EU bet on the wrong horses and signed a less secure contracts agreement months later and still haven't approved the Oxford.
Also shocked by German comments have the fake news Oxford less protection for the elderly few days ago.
Also phizer is for profit and part German owned so maybe some eu countries even before this supply debacle were looking after their own national interest.

If we did have AZ vaccines made in the EU that were supposed to be for the EU we can always give that number back from the UK sites? I don't think it was that many doses and it doesn't solve the EU problems but as production is now going well in the UK then I'm sure we could spare them? That is surely a different issue to what the EU is asking for from AZ which is many more of the doses made in the UK which are for the UK contract to go to the EU

Plus, this 'vaccinate the world' thing also has an obvious element of self-interest, in the sense that we need to have the virus at low levels globally in order for travel and trade to resume at normal levels
We do need to vaccinate the world, but not because of travel or trade. If Covid is allowed to spread unchecked in other countries it will mutate. If it mutates to evade our vaccine protection it’ll eventually get transferred back to the UK and we’ll be back at square one with infection running rampant.

If we keep 'our' AstraZeneca vaccine, the EU will then be more likely to keep the Pfizer/BionTech vaccine
The difference is, the UK is keeping vaccines we have ordered and paid for, which is reasonable. But the EU is keeping vaccines that we have ordered and paid for, which is unreasonable. Anyway I think AZ is aware that if they play silly buggers with the UK then Oxford will withdraw the patent for the vaccine.

I'm not that worried about the AZ vaccine. With 100 million doses I think even if some went to EU we would still have plenty, especially with Moderna and possibly Johnsen and Johnsen delivery from the spring. However, I'm concerned that if the EU block export of pfizer doses to retaliate then we might not be able to deliver the second dose at 12 weeks to people?

Seems to me the EU have fucked up and are now panicking and blaming AZ. Nice try but no coconut I’m afraid.