22-03-2021, 01:34 PM
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Re: EU About to Block Vaccine For the UK.
I found this picture on the BBC news page very amusing. Macron giving Johnson a funny look and Boris looking the other way. Merkel has her eyes shut.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56479814
22-03-2021, 02:29 PM
52
Re: EU About to Block Vaccine For the UK.
Originally Posted by Donkeyman
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That sounds like EU speculation to me Zaph ??Just what some EU official THINKS Boris will do ?
But it shows the mind set of EU over vaccines !!
Donkeyman! 🤔🤔
They hope it will turn into an infantile tit-for-tat but I think these EU leaders will soon be privately dissuaded of that, hence the alleged planned phone calls.
22-03-2021, 02:32 PM
53
Re: EU About to Block Vaccine For the UK.
Originally Posted by Zaphod
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That's exactly why I posted it and it's what Bread seems to have failed to grasp.They hope it will turn into an infantile tit-for-tat but I think these EU leaders will soon be privately dissuaded of that, hence the alleged planned phone calls.
What have I failed to grasp ? Read your Telegraph headline.
22-03-2021, 02:56 PM
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Re: EU About to Block Vaccine For the UK.
Here's the latest from the BBC:"German officials confirmed the PM spoke to Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday - and the BBC understands he also spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron - about the ongoing issue, which would affect exports of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine made in Europe.
Mr Johnson said he "talked to EU friends repeatedly" during the pandemic and had been "reassured... over the last few month they don't want to see blockades"."
...........
"Asked if he was worried about the row, Mr Johnson told reporters: "I am reassured by talking to EU partners over the last few months that they don't want to see blockades."
But he went on to issue a warning about what the growing infections in Europe could mean for the UK.
The PM said: "On the continent right now you can see, sadly, there is a third wave under way.
"And people in this country should be under no illusions that previous experience has taught us that when a wave hits our friends, I'm afraid it washes up on our shores as well."
He added: "I expect we will feel those effects in due course. That's why we're getting on with our vaccination programme as fast as we can."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56486067
That seems like a good strategy, opposing the EU's kneejerk panic with calm and logic.
22-03-2021, 03:01 PM
56
Re: EU About to Block Vaccine For the UK.
Originally Posted by Bread
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The problem is that some of the active ingredients are made in the EU and if the EU bans the export of them, they can't be made by other companies. Its really time consuming and expensive to use a different active ingredient supplier because you have to go through all the stability testing, modifications to technical manufacturing methods, regulatory approvals again.Thats why the USA are so annoyed, in particular, Pfizer as some of their ingredients are made in the EU and as a consequence they can't manufacture the Pfizer vaccine at all.
Its pretty disgusting what the EU are doing, the are behaving like a banana republic in some respects. Strange how nobody is waving WTO rules at them ... they should be.
Do you have any information regarding the active ingredients for the AZ vaccine that are made in the EU?
I'd like to find out why we can't make these specific ingredients ourselves.
I believe that the AZ vaccine was developed in Oxford University, so presumably they had access to everything required.
Certainly, we should not be offering any of the vaccines we produce either here or in our factories in the EU to the EU leaders. This banning of transfer of vaccines from the EU to the UK surely must work both ways.
22-03-2021, 03:22 PM
57
Re: EU About to Block Vaccine For the UK.
Now the Irish PM says that any EU ban on vaccines could lead to trouble:"Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin has warned that any European Union restrictions on vaccine exports would be a “retrograde step” that could undermine the supply of raw materials for vaccine production.
Martin told Ireland’s RTE radio that representatives of vaccine-maker Moderna had expressed concern to him that EU export restrictions on vaccines might impact its supply of raw materials for vaccine production."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/li...rd-daily-cases
"But speaking on Monday, Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said the move would be "counterproductive". He warned: "If we start that, then we are in trouble."
And here's an important little bit of info. from that source (The Express):
"The official added: "What is produced in Halix has to go to the EU."
AstraZeneca has not yet sought approval in the EU for Halix, but the official and a second EU source said the request was on its way. Without regulatory approval, vaccines produced at Halix cannot be used in the EU."
https://www.express.co.uk/news/polit...-jab-uk-latest
That is pretty clear: the EU are trying to block exports of a vaccine that they have not even approved to be manufactured at that factory!
And here's me thinking that having a stockpile of these vaccines on its own was bad enough.
22-03-2021, 05:06 PM
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Re: EU About to Block Vaccine For the UK.
'During a briefing, executive vice president at AstraZeneca, Ruud Dobber, said the UK did not receive any of its AstraZeneca vaccines or components from the EU.Fellow executive vice president Mene Pangalos then clarified that one "tiny" batch which "hasn't been approved yet" had been sent to the UK from Halix, a plant in the Netherlands that has an agreement with AstraZeneca to manufacture the vaccine.
Imported batches of vaccine have to be tested on arrival.
Halix was one of the University of Oxford's original partners for manufacturing the vaccine, Reuters reported.
The UK is mostly self-sufficient when it comes to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine - and has ordered 100 million doses of the jab.
The EU is mainly being supplied with the AZ vaccine by the US and by a site in Belgium, the company confirmed.'
See 14:57
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-56481031
22-03-2021, 05:28 PM
59
Re: EU About to Block Vaccine For the UK.
Originally Posted by JBR
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Interesting. I'd like to know more.Do you have any information regarding the active ingredients for the AZ vaccine that are made in the EU?
I'd like to find out why we can't make these specific ingredients ourselves.
I believe that the AZ vaccine was developed in Oxford University, so presumably they had access to everything required.
Certainly, we should not be offering any of the vaccines we produce either here or in our factories in the EU to the EU leaders. This banning of transfer of vaccines from the EU to the UK surely must work both ways.
When the AZ product was developed in the UK there would most likely already the supply chain set up as the vaccine was being developed for other areas aswell.
If we were to manufacture everything here it poses additional risks, such as national power outages etc. With a distributed supply chain you reduce these risks and can use warehousing in the case of pandemics etc but I don't think any of the risk assessments included the EU banning exports of active ingredients. However, saying that, the mitigation would be to avoid the EU as a "crown jewel" supplier like the plague (excuse the pun) and the solution would be for the companies that develop the active ingredients either move here or sub-contract to UK based companies that can in the medium term.
This is going to be very damaging for the EU whether they carry out their threats or not.
On a positive note, the UK didn't really have a vaccines and diagnostics presence at all (there is no money in it) and so we have gone from zero to world leader within a year and have the best genomics capabilities in the world now.
EDIT - Sorry I meant the Pfizer vaccine not the AZ one
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