Why do the Europeans want more vaccine if they're not going to use it?

[SonicTheSorryRabbit]

I've generally been pro- the idea of vaccine-sharing and ensuring all nations get their fair share of vaccines, but I honestly don't understand the latest from the EU:

news.sky.com/story/covid-19-eu-threatens-to-block-jab-exports-to-uk-and-other-countries-with-high-vaccination-rates-12248671

They're not even using the AZ jabs they have. There are around 8 million unused doses in the EU: edition.cnn.com/2021/03/16/europe/who-astrazeneca-europe-coronavirus-tuesday-intl/index.html

Why do they want more? To put it in the cupboard and not use it? The best vaccine is the vaccine that is stuck in someone's arm, wherever they are located. It should be made a condition of providing more vaccine to countries that they can administer it quickly, efficiently and without undue delays.

To be fair, the US is sitting on millions of doses of AZ as well, despite having not even approved it (and approval is unlikely until April).

These doses should be sent elsewhere where they can do some good.

Nations are like toddlers, they don't want the blue car, but no one else is allowed to play with it or even look at it.

Totally agree op I'm a bit perplexed

I can’t get my head round it, one minute it’s quazzi ineffective, it only works about 8% on over 65’s, next it was only to be given to under 65’s, then it’s killing people, in the meantime the EU are stamping their feet, we want your vaccines now but we don’t want to use it, it will sit in storage until it’s out of date then no one can have it, you couldn’t make it up, please can someone make sense out of this!

Oh. Did the other thread get full?

To be fair, the US is sitting on millions of doses of AZ as well, despite having not even approved it

They haven't been asked to approve it yet.

The US aren’t threatening other countries exports

Huh? The US have banned vaccine exports haven't they? Or we could get Pfizer from there.

Pretty sure the EU are just going to use it as an excuse to confiscate the Pfizer vaccine rather than going after more AZ

Fewer than half of the European countries have paused using the az vaccine. The other countries use it. The ones pausing it will need it in 2-4 weeks if the pause expires.

I was initially angry about their threat to stop exports... then I saw the actual footage where there were no inflammatory orders as reported, just a journalist asking will you stop exports to the eu and the lady says we rule nothing out. That’s it. Hyped up beyond belief. Especially when you consider they sent us 10m already and we sent zero. Imagine the shoe on the other foot. Consider our cases are now low and many European countries are in the grip of a third wave. Thanks to our variant. I’m not so sure anyone’s in the wrong here. Not us or them.

Turning on each other helps no one.

And it’s been suggested the much lauded 10m vaccines we were due from India now aren’t coming. Could just as well be that.

I've looked at some of the DM and Express headlines over the last few days and actually laughed at how ridiculous they are. surely even their readers who believe what they say could see through the spin and bullshit.

EU isn't a country, 8m doses spread across 27 countries isn't much at all and the EU got burn't sending 6m AZ doses to the UK in December.... when they did approve AZ, AZ/UK wouldn't supply them.

the EU got burn't sending 6m AZ doses to the UK in December.... when they did approve AZ, AZ/UK wouldn't supply them.

This.

And they will use them. Ireland is gearing up for restarting directly after the ruling today.

It's not all EU countries,some still continue to use the AZ vaccine.
Some are even eager to buy the surplus (Poland) that other countries refused to use.

Plus the unreliable deliveries from AZ mean some countries are having to hold a lot back to ensure the 2nd jab happens.

@Trumpety

Pretty sure the EU are just going to use it as an excuse to confiscate the Pfizer vaccine rather than going after more AZ

Yes, they have decided they want all the Pfizer vaccine and none of the the AZ.

They knew the only way to legally stop the UK getting the Pfizer vaccines they had ordered was to create a critical vaccine shortage in the EU that the UK could not responsibly allow to persist so by refusing the AZ vaccines for whatever reason, they have created a such a situation.
We have to give them our month's worth of Pfizer vaccine in April and apparently get to have the AZ vaccines that the EU don't want in return.
Obviously there is nothing to suggest AZ isn't as good as Pfizer but this is

Von der leyen acts like a dictator.

Guess it is clear now why the EU didn't want the AZ and wanted a reason to have access to all the Pfizer and not export any Pfizer to the UK:
India were not going to deliver the AZ!
So now the EU have all the Pfizer (won't export to the UK at the current time) and India has the AZ. Hence 6 weeks of little vaccine supply in the UK.

This will be very bad for those aged 40-49 who were next in line for the vaccine and are still quite high risk for Covid-19!

At a time when the government is going to come under pressure from all those business whose money they accepted in donations to reopen everything back up in April as promised.

Public health will be compromised massively now because the vaccine supply has dwindled and the government is beholden to a load of money-hungry party donors and right-wing loonies in their own party.

It's ONLY some European countries that have paused it while awaiting further data.

@Duckyface

Fewer than half of the European countries have paused using the az vaccine. The other countries use it. The ones pausing it will need it in 2-4 weeks if the pause expires.

I was initially angry about their threat to stop exports... then I saw the actual footage where there were no inflammatory orders as reported, just a journalist asking will you stop exports to the eu and the lady says we rule nothing out. That’s it. Hyped up beyond belief. Especially when you consider they sent us 10m already and we sent zero. Imagine the shoe on the other foot. Consider our cases are now low and many European countries are in the grip of a third wave. Thanks to our variant. I’m not so sure anyone’s in the wrong here. Not us or them.

Turning on each other helps no one.

And it’s been suggested the much lauded 10m vaccines we were due from India now aren’t coming. Could just as well be that.

Our variant? We don't know where it came from FFS, you do realise that we are one of the leading countries for genomic sequencing? It could have come from anywhere. We just happened to identify it.

@HazelWitch

At a time when the government is going to come under pressure from all those business whose money they accepted in donations to reopen everything back up in April as promised.

Public health will be compromised massively now because the vaccine supply has dwindled and the government is beholden to a load of money-hungry party donors and right-wing loonies in their own party.