Slow vaccine rollout stokes tensions among EU states

GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals

06/01/2021 14:25

By John Chalmers and Francesco Guarascio
    BRUSSELS, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Frustration over the slow
rollout of COVID-19 vaccines has sparked tensions within the
European Union, echoing disarray within the bloc at the
beginning of the pandemic over sharing of protective medical
equipment and the closure of borders.
    There are concerns that a separate order of Pfizer-BioNTech
 PFE.N  vaccine shots Germany made for itself could cut into
supplies for bloc-wide distribution, and a spat has erupted over
contracts awarded for "French" and "German" vaccines.
    European Council President Charles Michel, who represents
the 27 EU member states' governments, said late on Tuesday he
would call a video-conference summit before the end of January
to discuss the "tremendous" vaccination challenge they face.
    The European Commission, the EU's executive, has signed six
supply deals with vaccine makers for nearly 2 billion doses to
be distributed on a pro-rata basis to members states based on
their populations.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2JH215
    Of those, only the Pfizer-BioNTech  PFE.N  vaccine has been
approved for use so far. The European Medicines Agency
recommended on Wednesday the approval of the Moderna  MRNA.O 
vaccine.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2JH0MM
    The European Commission this week defended its strategy,
saying it had been important not to put all its eggs in one
basket when various vaccines were still at development stage.
    "We always knew that it would be a complex operation and
this is precisely why the European Commission was so adamant
that it was important that we could sign contracts with
different companies," spokesman Eric Mamer said on Wednesday.
    The German government is facing criticism at home for not
ensuring greater supplies of the vaccine developed by Germany's
BioNTech  BNTX.0  and U.S. company Pfizer.
    However, in September it reached a bilateral deal - separate
from the EU's contracts - for an additional 30 million doses,
German officials said.
    The European Commission said that EU countries committed not
to conduct parallel talks with vaccine makers, but declined to
comment on whether Germany had a separate deal with BioNTech.
    Separately, Karl Lauterbach, an epidemiologist and lawmaker
with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Social Democrat coalition
partners, accused France of trying to influence the EU's clutch
of contracts in favour of a vaccine being developed by France's
Sanofi  SASI.PA  and GlaxoSmithKline  GLAX.NS . 
    "France took care that not too much German vaccine was
purchased in relation to the French vaccine," he told German TV
on Monday. "I do believe that other issues rather than purely
health-related matters played a role here."
    Echoing him, Germany's biggest tabloid Bild ran a headline
saying "France prevented more German vaccine", referring to the
Sanofi/GSK shot and that of Pfizer with the German biotechnology
company BioNTech SE.
    Lauterbach declined to comment on Wednesday.
    French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune rejected
accusations against France as "unacceptable and false".
    "It is absurd to play countries and laboratories off against
each other because all countries need all the vaccines to
vaccinate the maximum number of people between now and the
summer," he said in a statement.
    The tensions over the vaccination campaign come as
coronavirus infections quicken in many member states.
    The EU has displayed unprecedented solidarity in the face of
the pandemic, agreeing on a huge joint borrowing programme to
bolster the recovery of its economy. However, there were strains
earlier last year when countries hoarded personal protective
equipment and unilaterally blocked border crossings.      

 (Additional reporting by Sabine Siebold in Berlin; editing by
Carmel Crimmins)
 ((john.chalmers@tr.com; +32 470 88 14 91))