AZ - EU contract published

[Davros]

Breaking news on BBC

I am just hoping for a new truckload of maple pecan Danish pastries so everyone can stop fighting over those damn bagels. Apparently they are promotional samples you can't order in advance so everyone gets to have their fair share. 😬

I'm hungry now 🥯 🥐 😋

So Macron wants to protect the workforce from CV and decides at the same time decides to agree with Germany that AZ should not be used on the over 65s. Yeah

@lighteincastlewindow

Astrazenaca are in trouble here. Not the EU, not the UK. They are in breach of contract to one party here, which one or both? The EU have published their contract, it makes sense the UK should/could do the same. Interesting if they don't. They can and should.

The UK do not have to publish their contract and I hope they don’t. The EU have made an embarrassment out of themselves professionally by publishing theirs - then forgetting to redact confidential information on the book mark tabs.

This is not how people in such high power and responsibility should be behaving - it was impulsive and pathetic. The person who ordered that to be done has seriously lost the plot. Where has the dignity gone? It doesn’t bode well for future event if this is how the EU behave when they don’t get their own way.

On Novovax, the U.K. production is on the basis that U.K. orders are made first and exports are only allowed once U.K. doses have been delivered. It is understandable but it is also vaccine nationalism.

fujifilmdiosynth.com/about-us/press-releases/novavax-and-uk-government-announce-collaboration-and-purchase-agreement-for-novavax-covid-19-vaccine-candidate/

It seems that this is the same for Oxford/AZ.

I don’t like the EU behaviour at all, but it is bringing it into line with the U.K. and US. If the EU has done the same strategy from the start as the U.K., we may have had no Pfizer/BioNtech at all.

@Eyewhisker - in each case, they are setting up new manufacturing facilities funded by UK government. That investment is made on the basis of being initial supply, but the facilities can then be used for other orders. If no such investment were made, there would be fewer manufacturing facilities producing vaccines.

The UK signed the Pfizer contract in July, and the EU signed it in November. That manufacturing facility would have been much further behind without the orders of the UK and other governments.

It is possible to prioritise one's own country and support for developing countries, that is done by funding Covax so that facilities are set up to start immediately producing vaccines for developing countries, the one in India is already doing really well. Parallel development, not holding everyone back for the slowest politician, that's how to lose the virus battle. If you want to see more vaccines in the developing world, take your battle to getting governments and large corporations to invest more into Covax.

Eyewhisker

if the EU had done that from the start when all other countries where busy negotiating, then fair dos.

But the EU stopped it own countries from making deals, and told them they would take over negotiation processes, then proceeded to drag its heels, didn't make deals for another 3 months after the rest of the world had been busy making theirs.

What were vaccine companies supposed to do? tell the whole world they wouldn't sign any deals and ship vaccines yet, because they were waiting on whether the EU may or may not also want to buy some.

@Wherrsmaclickypen

I am just hoping for a new truckload of maple pecan Danish pastries so everyone can stop fighting over those damn bagels. Apparently they are promotional samples you can't order in advance so everyone gets to have their fair share. 😬

Hope you've spent some time testing them and negotiating a good price? I'd hate for someone else to get your danishes first.

Wouldn’t be surprised if the Sanofi contract had the same stipulations as the uK and US.

@Boulshired

Wouldn’t be surprised if the Sanofi contract had the same stipulations as the uK and US.

That would make sense why they delayed on other vaccines and didn't stimulate stinger contracts. They probably thought they had a priority vaccine on its way which sadly didn't come to fruition

I agree that the EU should have done it from the start. It’s crap for other countries, but frankly understandable.

But we should not be hypocrites. If U.K. produced vaccines only export after U.K. orders are fulfilled, why criticise others for doing the same? We can criticise them for imposing it later but not the export ban itself which the U.K. has had from the beginning.

The EU didn’t have export ban clauses in its contracts, and seems to have been blindsided that the U.K. did.

I don’t like the EU behaviour at all, but it is bringing it into line with the U.K. and US. If the EU has done the same strategy from the start as the U.K., we may have had no Pfizer/BioNtech at all.

Isn't it the fact that the EU were slow which has had a big impact? They were months behind.

On the extra German orders, Germany only gets them after the EU order is completed. So nothing untoward.

What is the situation with production

Is EU only from EU manufacturers and U.K. from U.K.?

I saw posts on clause around this for first delivery. Is it correct?

Yes, the EU were slow. Yes, they made mistakes. They should have moved faster and arranged supplies/production earlier. Totally totally agree.

But the export ban itself is what the U.K. already has for U.K. production.

@Eyewhisker - Pfizer has been based in Belgium for nearly 70 years for manufacturing, it used existing facilities but had to make adjustments. The EC had no contract with them to be able to make statements about exports.
The UK doesn't appear to have an "export ban" and certainly in law has no export ban. It just has commitments on delivery of its purchases, which is normal in most contracts.

The EU didn’t have export ban clauses in its contracts, and seems to have been blindsided that the U.K. did

as above posters have already said, they probably would have had export bans on the french vaccines that they had hoped to come to fruition.

I would also would be be very surprised if they didn't.

The cinnamon roll analogy and the Andy pandy one from a previous thread, explains it very well.

UK had to go it alone because of Brexit, we also have the highest rate of infection and death. It made contracts to vaccinate its citizens. it was sensible to make those contracts water tight.

The EU is very rich and massive why would the government have worried at that time that the EU couldn't look out for its self?

Whilst uk sorted out it's own contracts it also put in a significant amount(per population) to Covax for the countries that were not big and rich enough to sort out their own contracts. Again assuming with the EU being so big rich and powerful that they would sort out there own.

and a side note it is shameful the poultry amount the EU have put into covax. the EU looking out the rest of the world? my arse.

there is a graph on one of these threads that shows it in all it shameful glory.

I think if the EU wants to follow U.K./US approach of getting priority supply from pharmas/factories in EU countries then that should have been agreed contractually with those pharmas/factories at the outset. I wonder what the Sanofi deal with Pfizer says. Novartis (Switzerland non Eu) is also collaborating with Pfizer - Swiss press says for worldwide supply but who knows!

To suddenly use politics and export control retrospectively on eg Pfizer jabs already ordered, might put Pfizer in breach of contract. I don’t know which Pfizer entities have signed what exact contracts etc. But usually Western economies would not behave in this way especially where listed overseas businesses are involved. Given some of these politicians have not read or understood the AZ contract, I suspect there could be further backtracking on the Pfizer export threats.

The EU does not own the stock it is used for manufacturing, using an export ban would stop stock but not mean the EU can then use it. They will all have batch numbers. Companies after this will divert to India even more. The UK has paid so much for some vaccines so that they produce and own the stock.

@MarshaBradyo - the EC contract clause 5.1 says Astrazeneca will use best reasonable efforts to build capacity to deliver Initial European Doses from the EU. Clause 5.4 says Additional doses will be delivered from EU plus UK, and if they need to come from elsewhere then there will be some approval; it looks to be intended as a quality control not a volume clause.
If Astrazeneca can't meet the delivery then they need to supply an updated schedule. The EC should then use best reasonable efforts to find an additional CMO that Astrazeneca can get up to speed to try to increase supply.
To my knowledge, the EC hasn't fulfilled that clause to try to help, on the contrary they just arranged for the Sanofi capacity to go to Pfizer instead.

That would make sense why they delayed on other vaccines and didn't stimulate stinger contracts.
They probably thought they had a priority vaccine on its way which sadly didn't come to fruition

I think there was defo some of this.

But we should not be hypocrites.

Have we been hypocrites?
My criticism is how the EU have attempted to scapegoat the UK because of their mistakes & the divisive language used & then Article 16.

There should’ve been a compromise, there are British people living in Europe. I think there would’ve been one if the EU had given the UK a chance but it went into attack mode before we could say anything, this blew up in a couple of days and escalated. That’s not the way to behave. It looks like the EU are angry because they lost control, that doesn’t help anyone.

The UK doesn't appear to have an "export ban" and certainly in law has no export ban. It just has commitments on delivery of its purchases, which is normal in most contracts

These aren't normal times or contracts.
the Uk may not have a specific export ban but by insisting they get their 367m doses from the various companies they have ordered from (247m from successful phase 3 trials) before even considering what they will do with the doses not used, thats effectively what they have gone and done.
We have also advanced ordered more jabs per person than the USA or the EU.
UK Govt has said its too early to decide what the UK will do IF it has excess doses.

It made contracts to vaccinate its citizens. it was sensible to make those contracts water tight.

I would expect every country to do this.