VIENNA (Reuters) – The European Commission on Saturday defended its policy of distributing COVID-19 vaccines evenly in the bloc after Austria and five other member states complained that doses were not distributed equally.
In a joint letter to the Commission and the European Council, leaders from six European countries, including the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Latvia and later Croatia, called for discussions on the distribution of vaccines.
The Commission replied that doses were distributed in proportion to the population of each country, taking into account epidemiological data, adding that the governments of the member states had decided to share it.
A flexible policy agreed by EU governments has meant that countries facing a more acute phase of the epidemic could have access to more doses, if some governments choose not to grant their pro rata allocation to accept, the EU executive said in a statement.
“It is up to the member states to find an agreement if they want to return to the pro rata base,” he said, adding that it supports an allocation method based solely on a pro rata population of each EU -country.
The Commission has been criticized for the slow impact of the vaccine by the bloc, although EU governments are playing a key role in buying vaccines and vaccination plans.
On Friday, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said the vaccine doses would not be evenly distributed among member states, despite an agreement within the bloc to do so according to the population. He, without providing evidence, blamed separate transactions between the EU’s vaccination board and drug companies.
The letter from Kurz and his counterparts, addressed to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel, called for a ‘European solution’.
“In recent days … we have discovered that … delivery of vaccine doses by pharmaceutical companies to individual EU countries is not being implemented on an equal footing following the pro rata population key,” the letter said. , published in the Austrian media. .
“We therefore call on you, Charles, to hold a discussion on this important issue among leaders as soon as possible.”
Kurz said Malta should have three times more vaccine doses than the population by the end of June.
The letter did not mention the steering group, which is the body that negotiates vaccines on behalf of EU states. The deputy head of the steering committee is Austrian.
Opposition parties have accused Kurz of trying to divert the blame for the slow pace of vaccinations. The Social Democrats said he wanted to “look for scapegoats for his failure”.
An EU official said Michel had received the letter and a leaders’ summit was already planned for March 25 and 26.
“COVID coordination will again be addressed by the 27 members during the meeting,” the official said, without specifying whether it included vaccine distribution.
Michel’s office declined to comment.
Reporting by Francois Murphy; Additional reporting by Francesco Guarascio in Brussels, edited by Alexandra Hudson and Clelia Oziel