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EU threatening to cut off supply of vaccines to UK

999 replies

Iremembertheelderlykoreanlady · 17/03/2021 13:24

Because they've not got enough apparently (despite the fact that they've got a shit load of AZ stockpiled because they've mostly stopped using it)

This is really starting to piss me off now, and has someone who is due 2nd Pfizer jab in 8 weeks in starting to worry I won't get it!

They're threatening to stop supply to USA too.

Wankers

www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/ursula-von-der-leyen-threatens-cut-off-covid-exports-uk-b924652.html

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Wakeupin2022 · 21/03/2021 23:45

Plum the problem is, we have only fully vaccinated about 4% of the population.

I don't disagree with you but I don't think bullying and stealing your way to our vaccines is the right thing.

If AZ had failed, the UK would be in a similar situation to EU. Do you really think they would help us? Or punish us for Brexit & not joining the EU scheme.

The problem is, VDL especially is making it very difficult for us to help. We are the small, insignificant country here.

ChardonnaysPetDragon · 21/03/2021 23:47

Saying Europe needs the vaccine more than we do misses the point.

They have vaccines, they have millions of AZ sitting around because people don’t want them, after all the twating around merkel and macron did. The damage is done and chances are the 74yo someone was bellyaching about above simply doesn’t want it.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 21/03/2021 23:50

We are in the right here. There is only 1 side who looks bad internationally and its not us

I agree completely, but weren't we told over and over again that going it alone was madness, that all Leavers were selfish c*nts and that we'd suffer the penalties of the damned?

It turns out that we really are "better than that", but I wonder what happened to the narrative that we could only possibly be safe within the EU?

HeddaGarbled · 21/03/2021 23:56

We are in the right here. There is only 1 side who looks bad internationally and its not us

Side? This isn’t a fucking football match. People are dying.

Wakeupin2022 · 21/03/2021 23:57

Puzzled I am not a leaver and in the grand scheme of things I think we have committed a tremendous act of self harm.

Possibly if we had a different government we would have reached an amicable diplomatic solution or there wouldn't be as much mistrust and hatred of the UK.

However that doesn't mean I love the EU and can't see it's faults.

They have seriously messed this up.

Wakeupin2022 · 22/03/2021 00:00

Side? This isn’t a fucking football match. People are dying.

Indeed. 130k brits at last count.

2 months delay to our programme - how many additional deaths?

Plumedenom · 22/03/2021 00:10

Whatever way you cut it, personally if I saw my neighbouring country with 300 people dying a day, 86% of whom were over 70, and I had all my over 70s already vaccinated and my death rate down to 33 a day, I'd be giving the next batch to them. Because when all this is over, they will still be your neighbour, and they are going to remember whether you acted with humanity or selfishness. The EU has fucked up, but they couldn't unilaterally decide like the UK, they had to consult and negotiate. It takes time. We lost time. But here we, and people are dying and while you guys guesstimate whether summer will be in Cornwall or France, we are wondering how many more waves between now and Christmas, and whether school will open again this year.

donewithitalltodayandxmas · 22/03/2021 00:12

@Plumedenom so why don't the eu look at larger gap like the uk , I am guessing as its not proven as such, but this is why we are on younger groups
Like I said my 87 year old nan has had 1 injection , 2nd one due may
Likely an 80 year old will have both in similar timeframe
Also surely italy have had enough doses already to cover the over 80's ?
Are the 80's the very first group to get ?

donewithitalltodayandxmas · 22/03/2021 00:14

@Plumedenom they are not fully vaccinated though yet and our deaths have only recently just dropped it wasn't long ago we had the same numbers and cases have risen slightly

donewithitalltodayandxmas · 22/03/2021 00:15

@Plumedenom also our schools only opened a couple of weeks ago and we have been told to expect a third wave , we are nowhere near out of this in the uk either

UserEleventyNine · 22/03/2021 00:19

Sky news says summit thur to discuss and agree export ban.
That bojos trying to contact different member states before hand.

Prince Charles and Camilla's visit to Greece this week for the Greek bicentenary suddenly isn't looking so irrelevant. I daresay a few hotshot diplomats will be going with them. If the other EU nations are represented there, it will be an excellent opportunity for some quiet talking.

Wakeupin2022 · 22/03/2021 00:22

Plum you are completely missing the point here! Those 3000 are not going to be in France.

They are going to be in the UK because we will a large number of people only part vaccinated or not vaccinated at all.

Because the EU has taken the additional vaccines we have purchased in good faith.......

Motorina · 22/03/2021 00:40

One of the strands of thought on this thread is that vaccine should go from the UK to the EU, because case numbers are increasing exponentially on the continent and their need is greater.

This is a position I could have a certain sympathy for, were it not for three points.

Firstly, we're much smaller. Even if we diverted it in it's entirety the impact would be small. This is political posturing to save arses, rather than health policy to save lives; the UK supply simply isn't big enough to make much impact on the latter.

Secondly, if we're redeploying on the basis of need, there are plenty of places in greater need than the EU. That would include Papua New Guinea, to whom the EU are currently blocking supply.

Thirdly - and this is the big one - if the EU wants that they're going about it all wrong. They could try, you know, asking? Showing gratitude? Offering to pay for the doses they've taken? Perhaps, in the same spirit of shared neighbourliness, offering to help with the Northern Ireland border mess?

Instead they've acted like a spoiled toddler at a party, holding all the sweets to their chest and crying, "mine mine mine!". If, instead of saying, "We demand parity!" they said, "We're hurting, can you help?", then I rather suspect the UK response might be different.

HeddaGarbled · 22/03/2021 00:42

@Plumedenom

Whatever way you cut it, personally if I saw my neighbouring country with 300 people dying a day, 86% of whom were over 70, and I had all my over 70s already vaccinated and my death rate down to 33 a day, I'd be giving the next batch to them. Because when all this is over, they will still be your neighbour, and they are going to remember whether you acted with humanity or selfishness. The EU has fucked up, but they couldn't unilaterally decide like the UK, they had to consult and negotiate. It takes time. We lost time. But here we, and people are dying and while you guys guesstimate whether summer will be in Cornwall or France, we are wondering how many more waves between now and Christmas, and whether school will open again this year

I agree with every word of this and I’m sorry and please don’t think that everyone in the U.K. is as viciously selfish and lacking in humanity as displayed on this thread.

Motorina · 22/03/2021 01:02

There's a little bit more on the Halix plant at thehill.com/policy/international/europe/544247-uk-wont-get-astrazeneca-vaccine-from-eu-report

It is an 'unnamed source' but it adds a little bit of weight to my theory up-thread that this factory was intended as part of the UK supply chain, and has been lost from it.

JamesAnderson · 22/03/2021 01:03

The EU has fucked up, but they couldn't unilaterally decide like the UK, they had to consult and negotiate

This just shows that such a big conglomerate isn't always better.

Each country had the opportunity to negotiate unilaterally and I believe some are/have negotiated with Russia.

The fact that the UK negotiated for itself and then approved each vaccine despite being able to join the EU vaccine procurement program says in some things it's better.

Maybe the EU ought to use the vaccines it has before they worry about where the next ones are coming from. Maybe they should look at extending the dosing interval so more people are protected sooner.

We've taken a chance and it's paid off.
Maybe the EU should do the same

donewithitalltodayandxmas · 22/03/2021 01:48

We've taken a chance and it's paid off.
Maybe the EU should do the same

Its looking like it is although not sure if that can be for certain yet , but I do wonder why they don't look at doing the same to speed up if need be , pretty sure we only did the larger gap due to high numbers and needs must ,so if some are in the same boat ?

NoseinBook3 · 22/03/2021 02:18

[quote HeddaGarbled]@Plumedenom

Whatever way you cut it, personally if I saw my neighbouring country with 300 people dying a day, 86% of whom were over 70, and I had all my over 70s already vaccinated and my death rate down to 33 a day, I'd be giving the next batch to them. Because when all this is over, they will still be your neighbour, and they are going to remember whether you acted with humanity or selfishness. The EU has fucked up, but they couldn't unilaterally decide like the UK, they had to consult and negotiate. It takes time. We lost time. But here we, and people are dying and while you guys guesstimate whether summer will be in Cornwall or France, we are wondering how many more waves between now and Christmas, and whether school will open again this year

I agree with every word of this and I’m sorry and please don’t think that everyone in the U.K. is as viciously selfish and lacking in humanity as displayed on this thread.[/quote]
But our over 70s aren’t fully vaccinated. That’s the point. They’ve mostly had one dose and still need their second.

NoseinBook3 · 22/03/2021 02:31

What help did our political neighbours give us during our last wave?

The French closed the borders. Remember all those Lorries that couldn’t get home and were stranded? Then after that the Commission decided to trigger article 16. They rubbished the AZ vaccine too.

Lots of acts of hostility. You could send them all of the AZ supply for the U.K. and they still wouldn’t be happy. They’ve destroyed faith of the AZ vaccine in Europe for political play so who is going to want it?

I often think things would have been much different if they had simply picked up the telephone and asked for some help. It really didn’t need to be this way. The U.K. is simply being made into the scape goat for their own incompetence.

The problem with bullies is that the moment you give in they escalate their behaviour anyway.

NoseinBook3 · 22/03/2021 02:39

And stating that doesn’t make me devoid of humanity. No one is gloating or pointing the finger at the citizens of the EU. Why would we? We have lived through what they are going through now and it was bloody awful. Our death toll is huge.

It’s the political leaders and the commission most on this thread have a problem with. The behaviour.

Motorina · 22/03/2021 06:33

Boris to phone EU leaders in bid to stop export ban: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56479814

It does sound like the Halix factory is the issue. I'm guessing there should be 10 million doses coming from there to the UK, which Ox/Az does not think it will be able to send. I'm guessing that number, because that's the number which suddenly were allocated from the Indian supply chain. I think they're backfilling.

If that is the case, then all this is for 10 million doses. Enough to make a meaningful difference in the UK. Not enough to even be noticed in the much larger EU population (particularly not if they sit on shelves due to vaccine-hesitancy).

So all this noise is about distracting blame. I knew politicians - both sides! - are largely self-serving bastards, but this really takes the biscuit.

Wakeupin2022 · 22/03/2021 06:40

I will also state the obvious.

To this shouting about your 70 year old not being vaccinated.

The EU governments chose not to give AZ to over 55 / 65s or whatever!

Whatalottachocca · 22/03/2021 07:17

The EU is broken. It was a nice idea in theory but just didn’t work in practice. There are going to be a lot of scenarios like this playing out over the next few years.

LIamaDelRey · 22/03/2021 07:18

Remainer with non-vaccinated family in EU
I don't understand the potential AZ export ban, given that many countries decided to stop using it. Waste not, want not, wtf?