Does Europe lack a new crown vaccine?


  Look at the global vaccine battle from another perspective

 ◎Li Shan, our reporter in Germany

  According to a report from Agence France-Presse in Brussels on February 3, European Commission President Von der Lein said on Tuesday that the new crown virus vaccines from Russia and China may be approved for use in the European Union if they "show all data."

  Recently, news about the EU's efforts to ensure its own vaccine supply has been dizzying.

In the race against the virus and time, developed countries in the United States and Europe are unceremoniously engaged in a fierce "vaccine battle".

But in the final analysis, the competition between them is just a matter of how much to divide up.

People should be soberly aware that there are still many countries in the world, and more people are "looking straightly at" vaccines that seem to have nothing to do with them, mumbling about "everyone should get the new crown vaccine" that others may have forgotten. Promise of.

  EU orders 2.3 billion doses of vaccine

  Does Europe lack the new crown vaccine?

Strictly speaking, this is a false proposition.

Currently, the European Union has received about 20 million doses of vaccine, and more than 12 million of the 446 million people have received at least the first dose of vaccine.

As of February 3, Germany has received more than 2.73 million doses.

Compared to countries that have only received 25 doses of vaccine, EU countries should be relieved.

However, compared with the United States and Britain, which have vaccinated more than 32 million and 10 million doses, the gap is very obvious.

  Although European Commission President von der Lein emphasized that there is no vaccination competition between countries and regions, "the only competition is a race against the virus and time."

But the people still can't help comparing the vaccination rates between the EU and the United States and Britain.

As of February 3, the United Kingdom had 15.19 doses per 100 people, the United States had 10.26 doses, and the EU had only 3.03 doses.

The supply of vaccines from U.S. and British pharmaceutical companies is still leaning toward the U.S. and U.K., which is the main reason for increasing dissatisfaction in Europe.

  The European Commission signed six new crown vaccine procurement contracts on behalf of the 27 EU countries. The total supply in the future will reach 2.3 billion doses, which can meet the needs of the EU and partner countries and regions.

At present, as Pfizer and AstraZeneca have successively postponed or reduced the supply of vaccines, the vaccination activities of EU countries have been temporarily affected to some extent.

The EU actively expanded the scope of vaccine introduction, began to approve vaccines developed by Russia, and supported Germany and France in accelerating vaccine production capacity building.

The EU’s goal is to vaccinate 70% of EU citizens’ citizens against the new crown before the end of the summer of 2021.

  The vaccine issue still faces multiple challenges

  First, compared with the United States and Britain, Europe still lacks sufficient vaccine production capacity.

German Chancellor Merkel said frankly that he hopes that people will not have too high expectations for the accelerated growth of vaccine production.

While fully supporting pharmaceutical companies, she emphasized the need to face up to the complexity of vaccine production.

Perfecting the entire supply chain does not happen overnight.

Currently, the German BioNTech company's production base in Marburg has been approved and plans to start production in February.

The four French pharmaceutical factories will also start producing vaccines independently from the beginning of March. These new capacity will alleviate the EU's vaccine gap.

  Second, even with vaccines, widespread vaccination in the short term is still a difficult task.

Although the 27 EU countries started to vaccinate on the same day, it is not easy to complete the vaccination task in time due to different health infrastructures, different vaccination strategies and different people's vaccination wishes.

For example, Germany is formulating a national vaccination plan, preparing various plans in advance so that it can be vaccinated as soon as possible after obtaining sufficient vaccines in the second quarter.

In addition, people who have been vaccinated are calling for relaxation of the blockade measures.

Countries that value the tourism industry hope to implement vaccine passports, while other countries oppose it because it will affect voluntary vaccination policies.

  Third, the new crown vaccine faces the threat of virus variants.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "The longer we wait to provide vaccines, tests and treatments to all countries, the faster the virus will spread and the greater the possibility of more variants. Today's vaccines will fail. The greater the chance of the virus, the more difficult it is to deal with the virus."

  Merkel has also lowered the hope that the new coronavirus will be defeated after the first vaccination.

"If this virus keeps changing, we will have problems."

  Equal access to vaccines benefits others and self

  Von der Lein said in May last year: "We must take concerted action on a global scale, because we must prevent such a situation: if a vaccine is developed one day, only those who can afford it can use it." The material has become a truth, and the reality is cruelly before us.

According to data from the Duke University Global Health Center, as of mid-January, some high-income countries, which account for 16% of the world’s population, purchased 60% of the global vaccine supply.

Among the more than 100 million doses of vaccines that have been vaccinated in the world, the richest countries account for two-thirds, and many countries, including the 29 poorest countries in the world, have yet to start vaccination work.

  In this regard, Tedros said: "Vaccine nationalism may meet short-term political goals, but supporting vaccine equality is in the medium and long-term economic interests of each country. Unless we end this new crown pandemic everywhere, we will not End it anywhere." For many low-income countries and middle- and high-income countries that have failed to reach a purchase agreement with vaccine manufacturers, the COVAX program dedicated to fair global access to the new crown vaccine is their only hope.

  With the shortage of vaccines and the rapid spread of virus variants, Seth Berkeley, the CEO of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, who is responsible for coordinating the COVAX mechanism, is speeding up negotiations with high-income countries that have purchased too many vaccines to allow the latter to transfer the excess vaccine contracts to To COVAX.

  According to a report recently released by the World Welfare Organization, if developed economies only care about their own vaccination and do not actively help emerging economies speed up their vaccination plans, their efforts to restore their economies will still be hit hard.