Crisis between European Union partners due to the suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine

While the block is under the threat of a new wave of coronavirus pandemic, the European Commission in Brussels He held community governments accountable for the growing chaos in vaccine administration.

The surprise accusation comes after 17 countries, including Germany, France, Italy Yes Spain, stop using the Anglo-Swedish vaccine if you suspect a risk of fatal blood clots.

The situation caused a rift between the partners. Germany would be isolated in the next few hours, because France e Italy agreed that they were ready to lift the ban as soon as the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to once again give the green light to the development of AstraZeneca Yes Oxford.

President Emmanuel Macron and the prime minister Mario draghi increased pressure on the chancellor Angela Merkel after a phone conversation on Tuesday. The two leaders, in addition to signaling certain unilateral German decisions in the field of health, have agreed on a common strategy if the European regulator is issued Thursday on the “jab” questioned.

Germany sinks into internal crisis after defeat of CDU (Christian Democratic Union), the party of Merkel, during the last regional elections. Lobbying voices against the Chancellor precipitate decisions and generate more tension in the country, as the resignation of Health Minister Jens Spahn is demanded, and cases of contagion by covid 19 are increasing.

In the midst of this political debate, the immobilization of the stock of existing vaccine doses is reported. Stella Kyriakides, the European health commissioner, said the vaccination plan is “more key than everAnd urged member states to use whatever vaccines they have available instead of stockpiling them.

“Despite the enormous and regrettable challenges of production capacity and deliveries, there are reports of unused vaccine stocks across the European Union.He said after a meeting of EU health ministers.

There is data from the European Commission showing that currently the proportions of available vaccine doses distributed vary between 50 and 100 percent in member states.

Data under review

For the English, the injection of Oxford-AstraZeneca has the support of the country. The government, health agencies and the scientific community do not hesitate to point out that this Anglo-Swedish development has already been inoculated to date at 11 million Britons.

In addition, the government has ordered to review the data of people who have already received two injections of the product in the Kingdom United, the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) does not believe the vaccine is the cause. “They can occur naturally and are not uncommon,” said Phil Bryan, vaccine safety officer at MHRA.

In the columns of The temperature, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said that despite the cascading suspensions of vaccine use in the union European, the latter “is safe and works extremely well”.

Your chancellor, Dominica Raab, he insisted that BBC: “I can tell you very clearly that the British Medicines Regulator, the European Medicines Agency and even the World Health Organization have all said that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe.“.

The leader of the Oxford group that developed the vaccine, Professor Andrew Pollard, for his part told the “BBC” that there was “very reassuring evidence that there was no increase in coagulation phenomenon “.

Peter Openshaw, Professor of Experimental Medicine at Imperial College London, says “he’s not affected at the moment, the benefits of the vaccine outweigh concerns about the risk of a blood clot, which is enough. rare.” For him, suspending the vaccination campaign in Europe would be a “disaster”.

Long dispute

The current questions on Anglo-Swedish development are another chapter in the long dispute between the European Union, the United Kingdom and even the pharmaceutical AstraZeneca.

A long time ago, France and Germany had doubts about the effectiveness of the vaccine for those over 65, despite the unlimited authorization of the European Medicines Agency. Ultimately, the two countries decided to allow it.

For many, the reasons for the differences lie in the failure to meet supply commitments. The European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, clarified the dispute over the delays in delivery of vaccines announced by the AstraZeneca laboratory.

“When they promise us 40 million vaccines in the first quarter and three days before the weekly announcement, they tell us that there will only be 30 million, it’s incomprehensible. There are undoubtedly malfunctions in the supply chain. », Explained the manager.

At the time, and given the delays in the agreed doses, the Italian authorities implemented the rule introduced by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, which banned the export of vaccines produced in Europe if the the pharmaceutical laboratory concerned does so. not respecting the preliminary requirements, deliveries undertaken for the European market.

Italy was the first country in the European Union to block the export of AstraZeneca vaccines manufactured on its territory to other countries. A total of 250,000 doses of this covid-19 serum that were stored at an industrial plant in Anagni, near Rome, will not be shipped to Australia

In “The Times”, Boris Johnson warned of the risk of further sludge in vaccination campaigns on the continent, which would be detrimental to everyone.

“As successful as the UK vaccination program may be, there is little point in achieving isolated national immunity,” he wrote.

The English leader stressed the need to protect the whole world. In a less diplomatic way, an article in the “Daily Telegraph” criticizes the “French precautionary principle which is killing Europe”.

“By eroding confidence in the vaccine, it is written, European countries put more citizens at risk of dying,” he said.

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