The topic of Covid-19 vaccines is being debated in the European Parliament today. Are there any secrets about the contracts, is the procedure for their approval slow, what will be the delivery schedule and why are the deliveries delayed?
The European Commission wants to monitor the quantities of vaccines that EU pharmaceutical companies export to third countries.
The reason is the dispute between Brussels and Astra Zeneca over the company’s inability to deliver the doses agreed for the first three months of the year to EU countries and the suspicion that quantities intended for the European market are being exported to other countries.
The Astra Zeneca vaccine has not yet been given the green light, but the executive director of the Medicines Agency said today that it is expected to go according to plan by the end of January.
They also insist on the creation of a transparency mechanism – that is, all pharmaceutical companies to warn Brussels when exporting to third countries.
„The EU does not dispute the fact that other countries also need vaccines, let’s be absolutely clear. But it is also absolutely certain that the European Union has invested in these companies to ensure that the doses we need for vaccination campaigns in the Member States are obtained. And not at any random time, but as soon as the authorization is issued by the European Medicines Agency. And if we see that the company is currently continuing to supply vaccines, we have the right to ask why it is then unable to supply the vaccines that the EU has ordered,“ said Eric Mamer, a spokesperson for the European Commission.
