The European Union threatens to ban the export of the AstraZeneca vaccine

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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen threatened Saturday to halt exports of AstraZeneca vaccines if the European Union does not receive its shipments first, in a further escalation of the dispute over delayed dose deliveries.

"We have the option to ban every scheduled export," von der Leyen said in an interview with the German media group Funke.

This is the message to AstraZeneca: Execute your contract with Europe first, before starting to deliver vaccines to other countries. ”

Von der Leyen's warning comes as European Union countries make strenuous efforts to speed up their campaign, and some of them are facing a third wave of the spread of the Corona virus and the renewal of restrictions on public life.

The former German Defense Minister said that the Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca had delivered only thirty percent of the ninety million vaccine doses it had promised in the first quarter of this year.

This group had talked about a delay in production at its factories in the European Union.

But European officials are angry that she was able to fulfill her contract in Britain and remain falling short on the continent.

On Wednesday, the President of the European Commission threatened to use emergency powers to stop European exports of Covid-19 vaccines to ensure "reciprocity" with other suppliers.

In the interview with the German media group, von der Leyen said in a warning tone that "all options are on the table", stressing that European leaders would discuss the issue of delivering vaccines next week.

She mentioned that the European Union contract with AstraZeneca provides for the delivery of doses produced in both the territory of the European Union and the United Kingdom.

"Nevertheless, we have not received anything from the British while we are delivering vaccines," she added, adding that the European Union sent an "official letter" to submit a complaint to the Swedish-British Medicines Group.

"I cannot explain to European citizens why we export millions of doses of vaccines to countries that produce vaccines themselves and which do not send any of them to us in return," said Food der Leyen.

The French Minister for European Affairs Clément Bonn welcomed the tougher tone of the European Commission.

"We need the principle of reciprocity: We supply others if they supply us according to the signed contracts," he told AFP.

He added that Europe must "defend its interests."

And the European Union has actually imposed special supervision on vaccine exports, as manufacturers that have contracted to supply Europe must announce whether they intend to export doses outside the bloc.

The bulk of Europeans ’concerns are centered on Britain, where the vaccination campaign has progressed at a much faster pace.

The Commission accused London of imposing a de facto ban on exports to ensure the success of its vaccination campaign, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government vehemently denied this.

And British Health Minister Matt Hancock announced Saturday that half of the adult population in the United Kingdom had received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, stressing the "tremendous success" of this country with the largest number of deaths from the epidemic in Europe.

In a video posted on Twitter, Matt Hancock thanked participants of the massive vaccination campaign that was launched in early December in the United Kingdom.

While the US company Pfizer has solved its problems related to the production of vaccines, there are "strong suspicions in European circles that AstraZeneca has sold the same doses several times and is not able" to ensure that it will deliver the vaccines to the European Union, according to a senior European official.

The mechanism for banning the export of vaccines is in the first place the responsibility of the Member State in which the vaccine is produced, and then the Commission gives the green light to that.

This mechanism was used only once, when Italy banned the export of 250,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia under the pretext of "persistent shortages" and "delays in delivery."

The 27 countries do not support an export ban, however, countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium, where a large portion of AstraZeneca vaccines are produced, call for caution.

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