EU threaten to cut off vaccine supply to the UK 2

[Baileysforchristmas]

As the other thread is full

www.politico.eu/article/commission-proposes-six-week-vaccine-export-ban-amid-fears-of-trade-war/

As an example of how supply has improved here, the US Virgin Islands has opened up vaccination to anyone 16 or older and are also giving the jabs to tourists visiting on cruise ships.

[[https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/91785 They Came for a Caribbean Escape, and Stayed for COVID Shots
— St. Croix rides wave of vaccine tourism]]

My brother and SIL are in the USA. They can just book an appointment to have a vaccine whenever they want and have a choice of which one they want. Compare that to the utter mess in the EU!

Az about to start a trial of a nasal spray vaccine. Betcha that won't be offered at cost. Thanks, EU.

www.ft.com/content/48fe2e97-f9e5-4291-b965-0728bfc42213

If I was CEO of AZ I'd be very tempted close my production in the EU and tell them to go fuck themselves. They've done nothing but undermine this vaccine from the get go.

I'd also make damn sure to have a clause in any future contract about parties to the contract not doing anything to undermine the reputation of AZ or the product.

@Motorina I heard this, Kate Bingham talked about this a couple of months ago, it’s game changer if it works as you could administrate it yourself, no need for big vaccinating sites with staff, great news for pandemics in the future too. The EU has shot itself in the foot as pharmaceutical companies will run a mile from them before signing, the EU will be paying a fortune in the future with tight tight contracts.

Novavax is already delaying signing a contract with the EU.

Reuters now reporting that Novavax does not anticipate signing with the EU til June. This is all very much based on speculation and unnamed sources, so must be taken with a pinch of salt.

www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-eu-novavax-exclusi-idUSKBN2BH2GY

In contrast, the MHRA are currently assessing Novavax for approval, has ordered 60 million doses, and a manufacturing site in Stockton-on-Tees is expecting to be up and running in April.

www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/clinical-areas/immunology-and-vaccines/novavax-to-seek-regulatory-approval-as-vaccine-found-100-effective-against-severe-covid/

www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/health/coronavirus/when-will-novavax-be-approved-in-the-uk-date-covid-vaccine-could-get-approval-and-how-it-compares-to-astrazeneca-3173945

The sad thing is that I don't think they even really want it. They just want us not to have it. The leaders of the EU seem to be utterly morally bankrupt. Who dissuades their people from having a vaccine in a pandemic?

I saw on the BBC news earlier that uptake has been slow in Liberia due to worries over the safety of the AZ vaccine. The EU’s irresponsible behaviour is having very sad and serious repercussions.

Liberia is also suffering from an increase in polio at the moment as less people have been vaccinated this year due to Covid.

I’m so glad I live in the UK, most of my family and friends have had the first jab, I’m glad most people in the UK are sensible, no matter what the EU say and are having the vaccine. We will come through this and be stronger for it.

I wish I’d had it already. Late 40s so just got bumped. Dh has though.

@FourTeaFallOut

It is the political equivalent of the MN favoured grey rock technique. How everyone has stayed on script and hasn't publicly lost their shit is a level of discipline I wouldn't have credited them with prior to all of this.

I’ve got 4 pages to go, so this may have been covered.

On the one hand, I completely agree with this - it’s the dignified and right thing to do, whilst letting the rhetoric from the other side continue to highlight many flaws.

On the other hand - I’m not comfortable with just how much flak AZ have taken over the last few months, with seemingly not much in the way of short, direct rebuttal. AZ have been very quiet, which I’m assuming is on legal/PR advice etc. But I feel there should be a strongly worded paragraph or two outlining the absolute basics - most importantly of which is the not-for-profit agreement (and the likelihood that they would never do it again - which, in turn, means many other companies following this would make the same decision).

I agree that I’m also impressed that we haven’t done tit-for-tat rhetoric. But I’m not happy that AZ are taking all the hits.

Off on another tangent - what on Earth is being done to improve the production facilities in the EU? I might be looking in the wrong places, but all I’ve seen is blame etc. Nothing about measures being taken to ramp up production, sort out plant problems, implement mass vaccine sites, encourage people to take the/any vaccine.

With regards to vaccine take-up, I really hope that people everywhere take note of date from UK and Israel (and the US) as the best real-time info on how the numbers are doing.

And I hope that the issues involving the EC decisions can be resolved as best as possible - because the sooner they are sorted, the sooner covax can ramp up more to help everyone.

Lastly, I think a5 some point in the future, we need a new bank holiday in the UK. Not sure exactly what it should be called, but it needs to reflect our scientists re vaccine research, genome testing and Kate Bingham and her team for great strategy in procurement.

[quote BunsyGirl]@MRex It’s a complete disgrace as is anyone on this thread who defends what is happening in the EU and puts the blame on the U.K. The U.K. made mistakes itself. Many of those mistakes were made at the beginning when this was all new. The EU is still making major mistakes now, more than 12 months on. Why were mass vaccination centres not up and running two months ago as they were in the U.K?! My family member in France is only getting the vaccine because he has been very ill for 12 months. I have an older relative in France who seems to be a long way off getting a vaccine.[/quote]
Your post makes me want to cry.

I know that on a few threads on here, it can seem that responses are very “anti-EU”. But I’m sure that the vast majority are aimed at the idiot politicians and the shambolic procedures.

No one wants citizens to be going through this. Given the shit wave that the UK has gone through, I feel sick thinking of the impact ahead in Europe.

I really hope they do sort out mass vaccination centres and that your relative doesn’t have to wait too long, it must be so worrying.

@MissConductUS

As an example of how supply has improved here, the US Virgin Islands has opened up vaccination to anyone 16 or older and are also giving the jabs to tourists visiting on cruise ships.

[[https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/91785 They Came for a Caribbean Escape, and Stayed for COVID Shots
— St. Croix rides wave of vaccine tourism]]

Bloody hell, that’s amazing! I’ve never liked the idea of a cruise, but I might change my mind now!

Az about to start a trial of a nasal spray vaccine. Betcha that won't be offered at cost. Thanks, EU
Another company is working on a skin patch (like NRT) vaccine for the newer variants.

@Furries Thank you. One of the most upsetting things for me is that my elderly DF is now convinced that he is in a worse postition than our relative in France because of the gap between their respective vaccinations. My relative in France is only having a three week gap between their AZ vaccine which, as far as I understand, is too short. It needs to be longer for it to be more effective.

The nasal spray will be a wonderful development, esp for children. Without the expensive bottling etc, it will also be more freely available.

@BunsyGirl

I have family in France. One family member has just had an appointment with his doctor to discuss having a Covid vaccine. He then has a separate appointment for the vaccine itself

That was what was happening at the start of the slow rollout in France and some individual Docs may still be doing it but that's not the "norm" now , and it's certainly not what happening in mass vaccination centres - it's all done in one visit.

There have been some pretty impressive daily figures recently now those are coming on stream.

@notimagain Two months too late....Can you tell me whether three weeks between AZ is standard in France or whether it’s just my relative’s doctor that has got it wrong?

@notimagain - that's really good to hear. The current case-numbers coming out of France are properly scary, so vaccinations can't be rolled out too soon.

notimagain Sadly it is all too little too late.

Not only has the trust been irreparably damaged by Macron, but thanks to him and the fact he has continually ignored his own scientists - the third wave has been with you for weeks already, and you are still not properly locked down! We are absolutely aghast here.

You are nowhere near the peak, and have a seriously rough few months ahead of you now, and I can tell you from experience the new variant is really something else. Your vaccines are only part of the problem. The biggest one being that you did not lock down in January when Macron was told repeatedly to do so, and the lack of trust in the vaccine, any vaccine. Those two things are the biggest hurdles now.

I do not envy what will happen in France now, and I certainly don't wish to see the poor people there suffer because they have a disgraceful leader thats ego is far bigger than his capacity for compassion. Macron needs to spend some time in ICU rather than in the hairdresser, and perhaps he will truly then understand what you are up against.

And the mad thing is Germans and French are off you Spain for their holidays, when the numbers go through the roof I bet the UK and AZ will get the blame.

www.politico.eu/article/spain-holiday-tourism-coronavirus-travel-restrictions/

@TheMancunianCandidate

"If you want an at-cost vaccine at a lower cost then you have to accept that the manufacturer has very limited options if there is a problem."

That isn't how contracts work.

It is if the contract stated 'best efforts' as the EU one does. Discussed as nauseum earlier in the year.

FRANKFURT — A group of citizens on Friday filed a constitutional complaint against Germany for allowing the European Union to borrow €750 billion earmarked for the Next Generation EU recovery fund.

This was very much under the radar with all of the other news. I wonder how this is going to go down in Italy and other countries depending on the recovery fund?

The French threats to stop the "EU vaccines' that will provide second doses for the UK is startling if not illuminating.

Clearly France thinks the AZ vaccines made across the EU 'belong' to France not to the Pharma companies that produce and sell them in line with their orders and contracts.

Yes I sa that

www.politico.eu/article/constitutional-complaint-against-eu-coronavirus-recovery-fund-filed-in-germany/