CANBERRA (Reuters) – Australia has asked European Commission to reconsider Italy’s decision to block cargo of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, stressing that missing doses did not roll out the vaccination program in Australia on Friday will not affect.
Italy, backed by the European Commission, has banned the planned export of about 250,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine after the drugmaker failed to meet its European Union contractual obligations.
“Australia has raised the issue with the European Commission through several channels, and in particular we have asked the European Commission to review this decision,” Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters in Melbourne.
Hunt said Australia had already received 300,000 doses of ASTZENECA’s COVID-19 vaccine, which would last until local vaccine production increased.
Australia launched its vaccination program two weeks ago and vaccinated healthcare professionals and senior citizens with Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, although doses of the vaccine are limited amid global stocks.
AstraZeneca did not immediately respond to a request for comment. AstraZeneca did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Speaking at the European Commission’s intervention, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he could understand the reasons for Italy’s objection.
‘In Italy, 300 people die every day. “And so I can definitely understand the high level of anxiety that would exist in Italy and in many countries across Europe,” Morrison told reporters in Sydney.
Italy’s move comes days after Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who took office last month, told fellow EU leaders that the bloc should speed up vaccinations and shut down pharmaceutical companies that do not deliver the promised supplies.
EU countries started vaccinations at the end of December, but are moving at a much slower pace than many other countries, with officials partly blaming the slow progress for the supply problems at key manufacturers.
Australian officials administered the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine to a doctor on Friday.
Australia has ordered 53.8 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford. The local pharmaceutical company CSL Ltd has acquired the right to manufacture 50 million of these doses in Australia and expects to release the first group by the end of March.
The locally produced doses are the backbone of Australia’s vaccination program, which officials hope to complete by October.
Australia is under less pressure than many other countries, after recording just under 29,000 COVID-19 cases and 909 deaths. The lower infection and mortality rates have been helped by strict lock-ups, rapid detection systems and border closures.
Reporting by Colin Packham; Edited by Jane Wardell and Kenneth Maxwell