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To date, relatively small amounts of vaccines have been distributed to poor countries.
The World Health Organization (WHO) criticized the EU’s announcement to control the export of vaccines produced within the EU as a risk of prolonging the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) pandemic.
The European Union has implemented these measures in the midst of a dispute with manufacturers due to a lack of vaccine procurement.
However, WHO Deputy Secretary-General Mariangela Shimao said this was “a very worrisome trend.”
Earlier, WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus said that “vaccine nationalism” could lead to “a delay in recovery.”
At the Davos Agenda meeting, he said that buying vaccines could “sustain the pandemic and delay the recovery of the global economy.”
What has the European Union done?
The European Union introduces export controls for coronavirus vaccines produced in Europe.
This measure, the so-called transparency mechanism, gives EU member states the power to refuse export approval if vaccine manufacturers fail to comply with existing agreements with the European Union.
The European Commission said, “The protection and safety of our citizens is our top priority, and the challenges we face now have forced us to take these measures.”
Export control measures affect more than 100 countries around the world, including Korea, the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. However, other countries, including less developed countries, are an exception.
However, the EU had to withdraw its control plan for the export of vaccines across the Irish border to Britain due to backlash from Ireland and Britain.
The European Union argues that export control is a temporary measure and not an export ban.
Why is this happening?
The EU’s export control measures took place amid an open dispute with the vaccine maker AstraZeneca over a supply problem in the EU, which is under pressure due to slow vaccine distribution.
On the 29th, the European Commission unveiled the details of a secret agreement with AstraZeneca, who developed the Oxford vaccine. This was to emphasize that AstraZeneca was not properly complying with the contents of the vaccine supply contract to the European Union.
The contract states that AstraZeneca will make “maximum reasonable efforts” in the production and distribution of the vaccine.
AstraZeneca said supply was delayed due to problems arising in production plants in the Netherlands and Belgium and the late signing of contracts.
The EU’s move requires vaccine manufacturers to obtain licenses before supplying vaccines to countries outside the EU. The 27 member states of the European Union will review export applications.
Vaccines produced by Pfizer in Belgium are currently exported to the UK, and the EU claims that some of the AstraZeneca vaccines produced in England are covered by a supply contract for EU citizens.
The European Union is also facing supply disputes with Pfizer. Pfizer is not expected to meet the volume of vaccines it plans to supply to Europe by the end of March. Pfizer said it was caused by an urgent expansion of production facilities in Belgium.
Which countries are exempt from export control?
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European Union Health Commissioner Stella Kyriachides: “There is no other choice”
The European Union has made several exceptions to its export control measures. Exceptions include vaccines donated to Kovacs, a project aimed at helping underdeveloped countries distribute vaccines, exports to Switzerland and western Balkans, Norway and North Africa, and to Mediterranean countries such as Lebanon and Israel.
But WHO spokesman Margaret Harris on the 30th told the BBC that the vaccine should first be distributed to vulnerable populations and healthcare workers around the world.
This means that advanced countries, including the UK, should stop vaccination in their own country and help other countries get vaccinations once the vaccination targets are over.
To date, 95% of all vaccinations have been done in only 10 countries, and only two of the less developed and developed countries have started vaccination, Harris said.