USA USA and EU amplify their sanctions on Russia over the 'Navalny case'
The EU vaccination strategy holds for the moment,
but the sword of Damocles is swinging with increasing force
.
Brussels is entrusted to millions of new doses in the coming weeks and messages of support arrive from all capitals, from north to south and from east to west, but signs of nervousness
, doubts and backstabbing, too.
This Tuesday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) set a date to pronounce on the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
It will be March 11, and
although there are no guarantees about the meaning of its opinion on marketing authorization
, the choreography and vibrations suggest that what was seen with Moderna, AstraZeneca or Pfizer will be repeated.
The announcement generated great relief and a wave of hope in Brussels, increasingly burdened and besieged.
The 200 million doses of J&J (expandable to 400 million)
could be available in a matter of weeks
, and the fact that they only require a puncture and can be easily stored would be an extraordinary kick to a process that progresses much slower than expected.
The moment could not be more opportune.
Although the EU is still formally conspired to move forward as a group,
more than one would pull their hair out watching the news
: there is a lot of one for all, but little of all for one.
Cracks are everywhere.
In the fight for the certificate (or passport) of vaccination, that Spain, Greece or Austria defend tooth and nail but that others, including France and Germany look on with suspicion.
The Netherlands and Belgium are the ones that express their doubts the
loudest
,
recalling that the right of citizens not to be discriminated against
must be respected, and that there is talk of a vaccine to which not everyone has access.
But what is most disturbing this week is something different and serious: the coordination and distribution of vaccines.
The 27 agreed that the best, safest,
cheapest and most efficient thing was for the Commission to centralize the purchase and distribution of doses
, depending on the population of each country.
With agreed, transparent, clear criteria.
The nerves came after the AstraZeneca fiasco and the consequent delays in everyone's schedules.
And now comes the discomfort and fear when some capitals begin to wage war on their own
.
SPUTNIK V
Hungary began,
which gave authorization to the Russian vaccine Sputnik V using one of the emergency mechanisms
provided for by community legislation.
And then to Sinopharm, the Chinese one.
And Slovakia has now followed suit, which closed the purchase of two million doses with Moscow and has already received the first 200,000 units this week.
The image of the military plane landing in Bratislava, quickly removing the packaging and providing the photos of the pallets with the Sputnik logo, is a carefully studied maneuver, but one that neither for that, nor for propaganda, ceases to be effective.
The memory of March last year, with the Russian and Chinese military distributing medical supplies (at a high price) in Italy,
is still stuck in the retina of many citizens.
The actions of the Visegrad members have generated unrest.
Like the Czech Republic games with Beijing.
The common strategy aimed precisely to prevent the smallest and poorest countries of the EU from being left without access in an individual war, in which the big economies had the upper hand.
The unilateral decision of both governments has provoked lamentations and anger
in the Commission and the Council, which see a building much less solid than expected shaking.
The feeling is unsettling.
From Berlin come the rumors about the frustration of many ministers and
leaks of outbursts released in Brussels about a "shit strategy"
and plagued with errors and delays.
From Vienna and Copenhagen, errands and provocations.
The governments of both are in talks and negotiations with Israel, thinking not in the short term, but in the middle.
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who is also
one of the biggest lobbyists for the vaccination passport, is tightening the rope
.
Yesterday he sent the message that they are in contact with Vladimir Putin about a "potential supply" of the Russian vaccine "in the case of an authorization from the EMA. And after criticizing the" bottlenecks "in the community strategy, he warned that of Facing a possible annual vaccination they are looking for alternatives. "
We have to prepare for more mutations
and we must not continue to depend only on the EU for the production of second-generation vaccines," he said about his dialogue with Israel. Thinking that this is not something specific, but annual, it is not innocent or free from consequences and interpretations.
HOPES
The waterways are multiplying,
but all hopes are pinned on medicine, not diplomacy and politics
.
If hundreds of millions of additional doses enter national systems and the success rate, with a fall in infections, remains at the levels that are being seen,
the tensions can be alleviated and disappear
.
The Commission today repeated the message sent a few days ago by President Ursula Von der Leyen: they will be more than happy to learn from the data and experiences of other countries.
Brussels defends coordination, open internal borders, vaccination certificates and movements en bloc, and
affirms that in a very short time the problems will not be one of demand, but of managing supply
.
But today, its narrative and results fall short of expectations.
After a year of deaths, restrictions and confinements, the siren songs are increasingly tempting.
Those of Moscow, those of the populists or those of the scammers who are offering hundreds of millions of possible smuggled vaccines.
The strategy is for six months, but the policy suffers to last six days and hardly six weeks.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
European Union
Coronavirus
Covid 19
Coronavirus Pedro Sánchez announces a new line of aid of 11,000 million for SMEs, companies and freelancers and Casado demands 50,000
United Kingdom Exports to the EU fall 68% since Brexit
European UnionMerkel and Macron defend common vaccine purchasing strategy at European level
See links of interest
Work calendar
Khimki Moscow - Real Madrid
Anadolu Efes Istanbul - Valencia Basket
Panathinaikos - Barça