AZ - EU contract published

[Davros]

Breaking news on BBC

Short term not much bbc seems think we have enough phizzer until March.
The med to long term issue is sometimes 2 or 3 vaccines make a whole vaccine product.
I think there's a raw ingredient phizzer made in uk and USA but finished product made in Belgium.
Likewise think there's 2 raw ingredients in Oxford AZ made in Europe but then manufactured and bottled within UK.
The new Johnson and Johnson made in Switzerland great but bottled in Spain.
So many vaccines are multi national.

On paper American will do badly out of these blockades.
As willl many other countries not just the UK.
If I was big pharmacy I be withdrawing all production outside of eu right now.
Especially with newer vaccines that maybe ready later in year but production starts later in year.
This could seriously damage Belgium and other eu manufacturing industry long term.

Ah well, with those export controls it looks like we won't be able to vaccinate everybody in time for October half terms breaks to France and Spain and Italy , or winter sun holidays to the Canaries, or any skiiing trips over the winter.

I'm sure EU countries won't miss that income.

@waspnest this is now very silly if that is the case and surely the uk goverment won't just sit by ?
Should the who not get involved ? Who is can uk go to as surely if we did this we would be hung drawn and quartered, what of ingredients here were restricted on being sent it could mess up for everybody.
Can you be seen to block one country off , who has done nothing ?

The UK has done nothing wrong, except for the unforgivable sin of making them look bad by acting faster with better planning. That is why they are angry.

I think that after Brexit the EU was always concerned that other countries would be tempted to follow suit. Their bungling makes that more likely.

Why aren't Hungary told off for not showing solidarity

Have the BBC run a story yet how we should never have left the EU and it’s the fault of Leavers who were too stupid to know what they were voting for, if only Remain had won it would have been a lot simpler to send the U.K. supply of vaccines over to Germany and France without being held up in queues at Dover???

Bloody bullies. Not our fault they cocked up

Eyewhisker that's interesting. Fits with the UK paying more and front ending the production development process.

@Dinnafashyersel - Biden's first call to European leaders was to our UK PM so yes I'd say that annoying friend would be put out by that too, especially when our partner had told us the only reason anyone would chat to us is because we were with them.

The parallels along the abusive partner are endless and the usual talk of how we'd never cope without them, don't like it when we make a success of anything etc..... It is classic bully behaviour and we know it always starts from a feeling of inferiority...

I cannot get over that France and German simultaneously discredit the Oxford vaccine and ban exports without them checking/agreeing first and imply Pfizer is at risk too.

I agree though and they are only playing to their home audiences although the piece in El Pais is critical of the EU failure to act fast enough to ensure supply lines.

Discredit the vaccine and threaten the UK's supply of Pfizer and demand we give over AZ to them? This is like Dick Turpin highway robbery - it is beyond crazy.

Swedish press is reporting that EU now want the UK's contract with AZ published. Absolutely no hope whatsoever I would think.

@eyewhisker thanks for the explanation i guess had they had enough it wouldn't be so much of an issue
The uk hadn't even ruled out helping , maybe asking and negotiating would of been a better look and isn't the reason az being manufactured in different countries to supply those countries ?

@Toptotoeunicolour

Swedish press is reporting that EU now want the UK's contract with AZ published. Absolutely no hope whatsoever I would think.

On what basis could they ask for that?

Unbelievable

@Eyewhisker

The reason why the U.K. is involved is that U.K. contracts have a clause stating that U.K. production first meets the quantities ordered by the U.K. before any is exported. The EU contracts did not. It now looks like the EU is trying to insert that retrospectively through an export ban. Not a good look to do it retrospectively, but brings the EU into line with the US (which imposed a similar ban in December) and the U.K. (which made this as a contractual commitment).

link to the UK contract please? I didn't think it was in the public domain, so how you can be confident it contains an export ban I have no idea.

The contract seems to favour the EU commission.
No mention of factories hierarchy (ie that EU can’t have doses produced in U.K.
Specific mention of U.K. factories being used to produce the vaccine
No clause in contract that U.K. doses must be fulfilled first
No reference to first come first serve at all.

@Toptotoeunicolour

Swedish press is reporting that EU now want the UK's contract with AZ published. Absolutely no hope whatsoever I would think.

Well, they can fuck off. Their desperation is palpable.

Fucking hell. So what is the UK going to do about this?

All I hope is that it doesnt slow down the UKs progress.

Being in the EU I'm also really fucking pissed off that it looks like I will be getting vaccinated half a year later than friends and family in the UK.

Unless I go back home to UK and get it but at the same time I dont want to queue jump residents and tax payers there

@FitzsimmonsMarvel

The contract seems to favour the EU commission. No mention of factories hierarchy (ie that EU can’t have doses produced in U.K. Specific mention of U.K. factories being used to produce the vaccine No clause in contract that U.K. doses must be fulfilled first No reference to first come first serve at all.

All subject to 'best efforts'.

Again, was the EU expecting millions of doses to sit uselessly in fridges while they conducted their snail's pace approval? Instead of being put to good use potentially saving lives in Britain?

@Waspnest need a better source - if you go on to Sky news on computer and click live feed there is a button across the bottom to drag and you can go back quite a few hours (poss 24 hours) and you can hear them say it themselves at the news conference earlier.

For those asking about what impact the export ban from Europe might have, my understanding it will have no effect on our AZ supplies is the supply chain is wholly within the UK.

It could impact our Pfizer vaccines, which are made in the EU, but one of the key components in the vaccine is made in the UK (www.business-live.co.uk/manufacturing/croda-cracks-vital-vaccine-ingredient-19384154 ) so in theory the UK could reciprocate the export ban and prevent any of the ingredient going to Europe.

Long story short, the EU will shoot themselves in the foot.

I don't mean go back 24 hours - just go back to around 3pm today I think I saw it -

5.1 says that Initial European Doses ( the first 300million) have to come from the EU, only later extra ordered doses could come from the UK.
This was presumably to protect EU manufacturers, but may have come back to bite them.

I feel very sorry for Astra Zeneca.

So do I. Talk about no good deed goes unpunished. I hope they sue and win.

Where was EU solidarity when Germany blocked exports of the masks it was stockpiling towards Italy, at a time when Italy was dying on its feet and Germany had minimal cases?

Yes. And neither than nor "Coronapizza" has been forgotten.

Which is why I think most of this is pantomime for the benefit of those of us on this side of the Alps and Chunnel, rather than intended for a U.K. audience.

Watching how formerly pro-EU friends turned anti here in Lombardia when the pandemic started I can see why the EU would not want another round of being found lacking.

Personally I'm not sure if I can cope with the triple whammy of Brexit, a pandemic and a blooming Italexit movement that gets put down with the EU in panicking iron fist mode. We're in no state to cope with whatever punishment heads our way.

But I'm fairly resigned to it at this point. The cracks in the dam are growing at such a rate that I'm no longer at all sure they can by poly filtered over fast enough to stop the walls blowing out.

Redtoothbrush said earlier Covid was a far bigger threat to the EU than Brexit ever was. I think she's right. No idea if this is the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning though. Just anticipating it being very painful for us over here in Italy (again) either way.

Breaking news-Boris is to hold a press conference at 5 possibly turning up about 6. Robert peston tweets Boris will slowly tear the Brexit agreement in 2 pull down pants and wipe his backside with each half. One half will be put in envelope to the French Government the other to the Germans in case there’s any doubt how many pieces there are he will stick two fingers up.. this story is being updated