Re: UK should be grateful
Originally Posted by
Solasch
->
Care for a good laugh? A bit off topic, but who cares?
Here goes!
The UK will be reliant on the EU to complete its vaccine rollout and a little recognition of that would not go amiss, the European commissioner leading Brussels’ vaccine taskforce has said – adding that Europe could have fully vaccinated 70% of adults before the UK reaches its own target of one dose for all over-18s by the end of July.
Thierry Breton also said*AstraZeneca*had agreed that almost all the Covid vaccine doses made in the Netherlands over which the UK has made a claim will stay in the EU.
The first phase of the UK’s vaccination rollout was “hugely impressive”, Breton said, but Britain was “starting to realise that one dose is not enough, that you also need second doses – and that to a large extent it will be dependent on Europe” for them.
He said the UK had chosen a company to produce the Oxford vaccine that “had the advantage of being based in Britain, but no real experience in vaccine production … And we’re seeing today what that means.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-says-brussels
Is it supposed to be a "
laugh" because of how everybody in the UK knows that the Grauniad is blatantly biased in favour of the EU or for some other strange reason?
Hence their use of Thierry Breton, himself a noted French EUrophile.
It's thanks to the forethought of our government that the UK has very quickly gone from producing next-to-no vaccines here in the UK to becoming a major player in vaccine manufacturing.
Certainly one that is far less-reliant upon those that would attempt to interfere in our attempts to protect our own citizens.
From funding Oxford to
from scratch produce a vaccine with AstraZeneca and produce this globally under license as the world's only not-for-profit manufacture is in itself commendable, but there is more.
Like funding Valneva (a French pharma company) back in July last year to expand production at Livingstone, funding their trials, and ordering 100 million doses of their vaccine if it proved effective.
Already phases 1 & 2 have gone well and soon phase 3 trials will get underway, and production began at the end of January in preperation for roll-out now that we've got options on 190 million doses.
The EU in contrast have as of today placed no order with Valneva for Covid vaccines.
Like funding the USA's Novavax stage 3 trials and placing an order for an initial 60 million doses of their vaccine provided it will be made at Stockton-on-Tees, with bottling now to be done in Bernard Castle.
MHRA approval is expected soon after successful trials and the factory here has a capacity of 180 million doses per year.
Novavax recently "
delayed" signing a 100 million dose deal with the EU.
Whether or not that is the result of EU protectionism and their subsequent prevention of pharma companies based in the EU of fulfilling contracts is for others to decide.
But again as of today the EU has no agreed order with Novavax for Covid vaccines.
Then there is our VMIC which is soon to begin production with a capacity to produce a further 140 million doses plus per year in the UK on top of existing AstraZeneca production.
Plus the facilities in combination with Oxford to "tweak" vaccines to combat upcoming Covid variants, the first such which is due this autumn.
"The UK has not been a major manufacturer of vaccines, but the bullying and threats from Brussels means we soon will be. In effect, there has been an “Ursula dividend” as the UK works out it cannot rely on supplies from the other side of the English channel, and needs to make more stuff at home.
But it doesn’t stop there. The same logic will apply to a range of industries, from power, to transport, to financial services and food."
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business...cine-industry/
It's subscription-only so I don't know how much others can read.
What I do know is that fervent EUrophiles will dismiss out-of-hand the success already evident in the UK's vaccination strategy despite statistics which suggest that our plan looks to be the more-effective.