“Give me Astra” EU-UK fierce battle, barely sutured

The European Union (EU) and the UK’s battle for the Corona 19 vaccine, which was heading toward a point of view, has been closed. The EU, which had pretended to regulate the export of vaccines produced in Europe, to the UK, stepped down.

On the 31st of last month (local time), British Minister of International Trade Leeds Truss said in an interview with local media such as Sky News that “we have received a written confirmation from the EU that the supply of Corona 19 vaccine will not be stopped.”

EU Commissioner Ursula Ponderrayen made a clear commitment to this in a call with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and explained that there will be no problems procuring vaccines produced by EU member states in the future.

Earlier, the EU and the UK had a fierce nervous war over the supply of vaccines. It was a fire when AstraZeneca notified that it would reduce its initial supply to the EU due to production disruption at its Belgian plant.

The EU revolted violently, saying it was a breach of the contract. It turned the arrow to the UK, where AstraZeneca’s headquarters are located, and insisted that the quantity produced at the UK factory should be returned to the EU. However, the conflict intensified after the British counterattacked, saying that they had agreed to supply the UK with 100 million doses of vaccines produced in their country first.

Finally, the EU threatened to block exports of Pfizer vaccines produced in Europe to the UK. Criticism poured out from the international community and the World Health Organization (WHO) as the’vaccination battle’ was on the way, and the EU withdrew it late on the 29th and stepped back.

The EU announced that it would receive 40 million doses of vaccine in the first quarter from AstraZeneca. This is an increase of 9 million times from the amount proposed by AstraZeneca last week. However, it is half the amount of the 80 million contracts originally promised.

EU Commissioner Ursula Ponder Raien said on Twitter that day, “However, we decided to start delivery a week ahead of the original plan and increase our production capacity in Europe.”

However, there are many analyzes that the conflict could only be closed for a while and could re-emerge at any time. This is because the shortage of vaccine supplies in Europe intensifies. Germany and Spain have already stopped vaccination due to insufficient supply, and France also decided to stop the first vaccination from the 2nd. In addition, Germany and France adhere to the position that AstraZeneca should be held legally liable, which raises concerns about internal EU conflicts.

The New York Times (NYT) regarded the EU response as “a sudden and embarrassing U-turn,” and predicted that Chairman Pon der Lyen would not be able to escape criticism.

Reporter Lee Min-jung [email protected]