BRUSSELS – The European Union has exported 25 million doses of coronavirus vaccines produced in its territory last month to 31 countries around the world, with Britain and Canada leading the way, just as the bloc saw its own supply drastically reduced by pharmaceuticals. enterprises are reduced, which delays vaccination. efforts and the homecoming of a political crisis.
The bloc – of which 27 million people live in 27 countries – was criticized last week when Italy used an export control mechanism to block a small load of vaccines to Australia. The move has been criticized as protectionist, and in stark contrast to the European mantra of free markets and global solidarity in the face of the pandemic.
The issue of vaccine production and exports has also created a bitter dispute between the European Union and Britain, a recently deceased member, amid accusations that the bloc wants to deprive the country despite the vaccine dose, partly because Britain is doing so much better with its deployment.
Tensions erupted in a diplomatic spree on Wednesday after a top EU official accused the United States and Britain of imposing a “total ban” on exports – a charge that the British government strongly denies. has.
Practically speaking, banned or not banned, Britain does not export vaccines that may be given at home, and the country has said it is prepared to give excess doses to neighboring Ireland, although this has only been done with its vaccination efforts at home.
The United States has also maintained doses, in part through a wartime mechanism known as the Defense Production Act, which gives the federal government greater control over industrial production. President Biden promised last week that all adults in America would be offered at least one vaccine dose by May.
But information released for the first time, seen in detailed internal documents by The New York Times, shows that the European Union, by far not protectionist, is in fact a powerhouse exporting the vaccine.
Of the 25 million doses of vaccine made in EU-based facilities, which were exported between 1 February (when the export mechanism came into effect) and 1 March, more than eight million doses went to Britain.
And while the United States kept doses to itself, the EU sent 651,000 vaccines to the United States last month, making vaccines that immunized its neighbors: the second-largest recipient of vaccines manufactured in the EU was Canada, which last year more than received three million doses. month, while the fourth largest was in Mexico, and nearly 2.5 million vaccine doses were received in the block.
The question of whether these data should be made public has been hotly debated in the corridors of power at the European Commission, the EU’s executive, which is at the heart of obtaining the vaccines and has suffered the biggest political blow to the overwhelming deployment.
On the one hand, several senior EU officials have said that the huge export efforts that keep countries around the world vaccinated and start helping the world economy again will restore Europe’s reputation. On the other hand, it will outrage European citizens who wait for their shots as Americans, Britons, Israelis and others rush past them to resume public life, health and economic activity.
As things stand now, nearly 58 percent of Israelis have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine. Data collected by OurWorldInData is 33 percent for people in Britain, 18 percent for the United States and 6.5 percent for people in the European Union.
The bloc was weeks behind the United States and Britain in concluding deals with pharmaceutical companies last week, but did secure a broad portfolio of vaccines on favorable terms on behalf of its members. This gave them relatively quick access to vaccination that most would not have dreamed of if they had acted alone.
But within weeks of its start-up in late December, the block received a shock in supply. First, Pfizer said it was reducing deliveries to upgrade its facilities. Then AstraZeneca told the bloc that it would deliver only 31 million of the promised doses of 80 million in the first quarter of this year.
Moderna, whose vaccine has also been approved for use by the blockchain, has also had minor supply-side issues. Many EU countries have also done poor work to get the vaccinations they have to their citizens due to poor organization and logistics.
The deployment in the bloc was so weak that member states were tempted by the offers of extra doses on the black market, and several tapped on unauthorized vaccines, including the Russian Sputnik V, which is still under scrutiny for use in the block.
The hope that this misery can be alleviated in the second quarter of this year depends largely on AstraZeneca’s offering and a robust delivery plan by Johnson & Johnson, whose Covid-19 vaccine was authorized by EU regulators on Thursday.
However, there are concerns that Johnson and Johnson could also break down the offer to the bloc, which would trigger a request from the bloc to the U.S. government for a loan of 10 million doses. Officials in the United States and the European Union said the request was denied.
Noah Weiland reported by Washington contributed.