What do EU nationals think of the vaccines mess?

[Frazzled2207]

I’m a committed remainer. But the EU really did mess up last night. More seriously they are not in a good position right now with regards vaccine supply. Lots of anti-Eu posts here right now from committed remainers like me.

Just wondering what EU citizens make of all this and is there any bad feeling towards the UK? Do you think the EU has a right to some of the UK’s vaccine supply? Are people angry at the fact that the UK was able to secure more vaccines more quickly? Or are we coming across as selfish idiots?
Generally curious and am not here to start an argument

So what’s happening with Southern Ireland, how many have been vaccinated and when they in line to get their next delivery?

If this is true, wow. Can anyone confirm?

I just thought that this commentary was an interesting counterpoint - although it may well be a minority perspective within the EU, who knows

The article is hard-hitting and very angry with the German government and EU, which is interesting as they were a pro-Merkel paper. It sees right through Ursula VdL's posturing and attempts to shift blame, and calls for her to apologise and resign. It also quotes other German and Austrian newspapers which have been very critical. As for Hungary, it's getting vaccines from Russia and Orban is a bit of a loose cannon.

Unlikely. They posted a news update on the Ox/Az approval on the 30th december and, as I understand it, Az did not submit formally to them til 2nd week Jan.

Ursula van der Leyden has spoken with Boris Johnson and the UK orders for Pfizer vaccines have been assured

@LimitIsUp can you point me to anywhere where UvdL has said that directly, please? I've heard various UK politicians saying she said that, but that's a slightly different thing. Thank you!

There is a tweet where she said this, reported in the Financial Times

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.ft.com/content/93555276-fc30-41cc-8f94-ca968e3622aa

Thank you, but I'm not a subscriber. Is it this tweet?

twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1355299075223121928

If so, I am not reassured because, as a matter of accuracy, Pfizer is not fulfilling it's contract to Europe (or anyone else). I week ago this would have reassured me, but it's been a long week.

That's due to upgrading the Pfizer plant (to increase output) though which is due to be completed imminently

@Motorina

Thank you, but I'm not a subscriber. Is it this tweet?

twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1355299075223121928

If so, I am not reassured because, as a matter of accuracy, Pfizer is not fulfilling it's contract to Europe (or anyone else). I week ago this would have reassured me, but it's been a long week.

This may help to reassure you a little if you don't know already. The UK supply two major components of the Pfizer vaccine.

So basically what the queen bee of the EU has now discovered along with don't muck with the Irish border. Is that exports going both ways when it comes to the Pfizer vaccine.

It would take them time to re source or make these components themselves. By then the whole manufacturing process will be bigger everywhere. More vaccines will be approved. So the whole this thing is not too worrying really.

The Goviot said the same thing on Friday.

And every vaccine manufacturer that is currently making covid vaccines has had issues when scaling production haven't they?

As will all of the ones yet to be released. That's not surprising given what they are doing!

@Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum thank you - that is reassuring. I'm waiting on Pfizer dose two, so clearly it's a worry.

[quote Motorina]@Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum thank you - that is reassuring. I'm waiting on Pfizer dose two, so clearly it's a worry.[/quote]
The EU have said that the 3.5 million Pfizer expected by mid February will not be stopped. I think we had a large amount in country already anyway. So should be fine until they are all manufacturing at full capacity in March.

The whole argument was really about the supply in the next 4 to 6 weeks it seems. Hard for the EU to wait whilst we are vaccinating at such speed.

@Avondklok

They weren't ripping up,the GFA. This was meant to be a short term measure to cover reporting of vaccine exports only. See Boris for the former.

But why though?

The whole fuss around the Northern Irish situation is that open borders between both NI and RoI, and between NI and UK would be an open goal for those wishing to avoid customs checks when moving goods between GB and the EU. But we're not talking about Del Boy and his consignment of black market Romanian riesling, the only customer involved is the UK government. Was someone in the Commission seriously suggesting that the UK would otherwise succeed in mounting a clandestine smuggling operation to sneak Pfizer vaccines through RoI into the UK? If the EC really did think that was a possibility then they have taken leave of their senses.

Quite apart from the rights and wrongs of threatening to block Pfizer shipments the UK long-since paid for as a way of protesting against a completely different company's production issues. Quite different from the UK having an exclusivity agreement on the first batches of AZ vaccine produced in the UK.

I note that the first Novavax doses to be produced in the UK will be exported to the US. Are the UK complaining? Of course not, it's an agreement between a private company and a foreign government which we'd have known about when entering into our own agreement with Novavax (this is why we went for other vaccines initially rather than Moderna).

AZ vaccines go out from their UK plants to Germany to be bottled (vials need to be irradiated in some way I think before being filled

AZ vaccines manufactured in the UK are put into vials in Wrexham, North Wales. No idea about EU produced AZ vaccines, I think I remember something about Italy being involved.

Good to see that the UK is sending vaccines to the Falkland Islands.

@Waspnest

AZ vaccines go out from their UK plants to Germany to be bottled (vials need to be irradiated in some way I think before being filled

AZ vaccines manufactured in the UK are put into vials in Wrexham, North Wales. No idea about EU produced AZ vaccines, I think I remember something about Italy being involved.

Good to see that the UK is sending vaccines to the Falkland Islands.

Wrexham is now up and running but we did initially have to bottle some on the continent.

Yes we did, maybe the initial UK destined AZ batches produced in the EU?

I can't find details about when the switch from EU packaging (possibly in Germany?) to Wrexham packaging occurred.

Just listened to UvdL's spokesman. He said that "only the Pope is infallible". Given the context of a century of sectarian conflict, making a reference to the Pope is straight from the Berlusconi school of diplomacy.

On the Article 16 thrread I posted the same BBC clip... apparently the Pope reference was a personal aside... but it made me smile, thinking quite how closely the BBC must have clipped it!

I liked "how to vaccinate the world" on R4 this morning. Was quite informative and did paint a negative picture of the EU's approach to procurement but without being hysterical or jingoistic....

@Baileysforchristmas

So what’s happening with Southern Ireland, how many have been vaccinated and when they in line to get their next delivery?

I'm not sure that they tell us how many have been vaccinated in specific parts of the country? I think it is a whole of Ireland thing rather than southern Ireland, Western Ireland, the Midlands etc.

Blair was on sky yesterday saying that “no way” would the UK “pause” its own programme to allow others to catch up though.

Good!

I’ve read that 75000 people in Southern Ireland out of 4.5 million, i’m not sure when they will get there next delivery. How do the EU decide which country should get the vaccine first? It sounds like a political disaster, each scrambling for slow vaccine deliveries, if they favour one country over another this will look terrible but they can’t vaccinate the whole of the EU at the same time.

@Baileysforchristmas to my understanding the vaccines are split between the different countries based on population size. So no country should be getting the vaccine first or last as each country is getting shipments at the same time. (+/- a few hours or maybe a day because of distances).

@Baileysforchristmas

I’ve read that 75000 people in Southern Ireland out of 4.5 million, i’m not sure when they will get there next delivery. How do the EU decide which country should get the vaccine first? It sounds like a political disaster, each scrambling for slow vaccine deliveries, if they favour one country over another this will look terrible but they can’t vaccinate the whole of the EU at the same time.

Are you referring to Ireland here or the South of Ireland it is unclear what you are trying to say? If you are referring to Ireland(then why on earth do you keep saying Southern Ireland you wouldn't say Southern England or Southern Scotland if you meant the whole country?) a quick Google will tell you what you want to know. Here is one article amp.rte.ie/amp/1194478/