The agreement in May was a Licence agreement between Oxford and AZ to which the UK government had third party rights (security of supply, cost, firm delivery obligations). The Supply Agreement signed on 28 August specifically references the Licence Agreement. Also key that both were with AZ(UK).
The Advance Purchase Agreement signed between AZ(EU) and the EU on 27 August is irrelevant in so far as it has any bearing on the UK/AZ(UK) Supply Agreement, that operated subject to the Licence Agreement signed on 17 May.
The absolute bullshit I continue to see posted about this (on social media etc) is ridiculous. Not helped, of course, by the continuous misrepresentations from various people within the EU and individual Member States.
Its perhaps worth pointing out, that I doubt the EU would be foolish enough to block supplies to the UK.
The primary reason is that MRNA vaccines rely upon a lipid component. At the moment this is limited to a few places in the world. There is an entire seperate biotechnology process to making this lipid.
Trouble is for the EU this lipid is difficult to make, Merck looks like it will be the end of 2021 and Evonik the same. That means supplies a limited. Phizer relies upon a company called Croda which make it in Yorkshire/Middelsborgh, and also a site in the United states.
In short if the EU blocks off the UK vaccines, they risk losing the MRNA vaccines.
In a sad press release on Sunday, Statens Legemiddelverk announced that further two persons have died from blood clot complications after having had the Astra Zenica vaccine. One can also read that several more people who have been vaccinated with it are experiencing serious complications (low blood vessels, blood clot and so on). The persons who have died, 3 now in Norway with no underlying diseases, have all died from blood clot in combination with low blood vessels and bleeding. More are having the same symptom, but are thankfully not in critical condition as far as I know.
I really, really, really doubt that we will re-commence Astra Zenica vaccination (we dissented from the EMA conclusion), as just too many are having very bad bi-effects. And unlike some countries, we have not vaccinated THAT many, so 3 dead is just too much, these were all below 50 years old with no underlaying conditions. Around 130 000 have been vaccinated with Astra Zenica. There is probably no cause for concern for these.
All the very serious bi-effects have materialised between 3 and 12 days after vaccination.
3 dead from 130 000 may not sound that much, but it is still 3 healthy people and statistically that is not so okay really. Legemiddelverket: To nye pasienter døde av blodpropp – VG
EMA wants to go ahead with the vaccination as far as I know. Norway dissented, but EMA itself okayed the vaccine after the freeze. And given that, the EU probably wants to commence the vaccination fairly asap I would guess, since the regulatory body okayed it.
Officials have said that Cobra is not fully operational. AstraZeneca told EU officials that the UK is using a clause in its supply contract that prevents export of its vaccines until the British market is fully served, EU officials said.
I hope everyone can see it for what it is and how outrageous and ludicrous it has been that the UK have been spinning this as if the EU invented “vaccine Nationalism”. All parties are equally ethically to blame, whatever a contract says. There is no difference between the UK and the EU when it comes to “vaccine Nationalism”, but if one wants to go down that path like the UK did, then it is the UK that started it with their contract clause (which again, is a natural clause that I would never really criticise).
It’s interesting because in the context of Norway, they’ve had 215 COVID deaths since they began inoculations on the 28th December (Norway: Coronavirus Pandemic Country Profile - Our World in Data). 3 deaths from side-effects against 215 COVID deaths is not insignificant. If his country’s government had bungled the entire pandemic, they had been gut-punched by COVID and the near future looked similarly bleak, the public perception of the risk vs reward from the AZ vaccination may be very different.
What other vaccination suppliers did Norway sign agreements with? Are they even in a position to drop the AZ vaccine completely knowing that every other vaccine is also in short supply?
With respect, there’s a huge gulf between the respective positions of the EU and the UK here.
With AstraZeneca specifically the UK funded the development of the vaccine from the very beginning (February/March) and did so on the understanding that a) there would be dedicated UK supply chains and b) it would be made available at cost for the developing world.
The UK were also the principal drivers behind the setting up of COVAX (The WHO scheme) and got that started with funding of £534m (The EU later committed €500m). In February, as leader of the G7, the UK also successfully convinced the US to participate in COVAX (funding) and the EU and individual member states to significantly increase their contributions.
Because of the UK the AZ vaccine is licensed around the world, at cost. Including with the Serum Institute of India (India is the world’s largest producer of vaccines). It is by far the cheapest vaccine available and also the most easily stored (factors which make it highly in demand - it is the most ordered vaccine in the world).
The UK also invested heavily in other vaccine candidates as well. Moderna, Novavax, Janssen, Pfizer, and Valneva. It also accelerated the readiness of the VMIC (a vaccine super factory that was already being built pre pandemic but which will be online this summer, a year ahead of schedule).
It negotiated early, backed many horses, ensured the security of its supply chain (with firm contractual conditions and/or domestic manufacturing bases - more than half of the vaccines are being made in the UK).
By the end of the summer, pharma companies based in the UK are likely to be a major exporter of vaccines, potentially equal to the whole of the EU. It’s worth bearing in mind that as of 2018 the UK was the largest manufacturer of vaccines in the G7. It has only increased that capacity in the last 12 months.
The EU dithered. It prioritised price over speed and security of supply. It naively assumed that the production of a new vaccine (including using untested techniques) in unprecedented timescales would run without hitch. It assumed all vaccine candidates would deliver equally. It too sought to prioritise its own citizens, specifically opting out of participating in the COVAX vaccine roll out for this reason.
Its regulator then did not approve with the speed to indicate it was treating the pandemic as the urgent emergency it was. It then poured scorn and questioned the safety of vaccines other regulators had already approved (all of which it too subsequently approved), it maligned the integrity of the one vaccine (AZ) that will most heavily be relied upon by more than half of the world’s population (overwhelmingly the poorest), challenged the trustworthiness of the company, lied about it being in breach of its contractual obligations, banned its lawful export to countries in desperate need (Papua New Guinea), caused huge vaccine hesitancy amongst its own population (such that millions of doses are going unused sitting in fridges or worse, having to be thrown away).
No, there simply is no comparison between how the EU and the UK have behaved here.
I have no idea what I’m getting, when my second one is (assuming i’m getting a second one) or what of my rights Ive signed away, but they opened 1 site here to 40+ as of 9am this morning and after finding an appointment I just rushed the agreements as quickly as I could to lock down the appointment. Job done.
@Magnus in terms of vaccine nationalism I don’t think there is any question the hoarding of vaccine by the UK at the expense of the rest of the world is absolutely at the doorstep of the UK. The UK have shown no evidence of a single vial leaving the UK, because right now, they need a good news story. But that’s not even the question. They made great contracts well in advance of the EU, and those contracts were water tight in terms of us (UK) benefitting at the expense of others. The EU on the other hand spent months backing the wrong horse and were very reactive in everything they did. It pains me to say it but the UK government actually planned and implemented something successfully during this pandemic. For the EU, when the vaccine rollout has stuttered, their actions in response have at times been appalling.
I think its worth separating that the criticisms of the EU, at least in the UK, haven’t really been about the slow rollout, because quite frankly only a small handful of countries have rolled out vaccines quickly on the backs of early and expensive contracts (US, UK, Isreal). The EU were slow off the mark and their contracts weren’t anywhere near as water tight at the UK’s. They could have just taken the hit - and yes the hit would be significant given how the UK has ironically got the EU’s hands tied behind their backs with their contract - but instead they have resorted to underhanded tactics (threatening to trigger article 16 for example). They have in many regards acted as you would expect the US to act, when they had previously given the appearance they were better than that.
The UK are coming out looking squeaky clean. The conversation could have been about why the UK haven’t allowed or made any attempts to export and share vaccine, but the EU at every step of the way has brought attention on itself so much that they haven’t allowed an alternative narrative focused on whether the world was working as one. Some of what has transpired in the last few months will have polar views on here: eg. Whether some EU nations (not EU!) deliberately sabotaged the AZ vaccine rollout by suspending it as some sort of revenge for the binding contract they signed with the UK. I personally cannot understand that line of thinking given that they are now using it again, and I wouldn’t think there are any nations, particularly ones under the cosh right now, that would reject a life-saving vaccine, even one not quite as effective as the others.
First in, best dressed. That should be the motto for the EU in future. Sign a vaccine contract early. Tie the hands of the company (AZ) by ensuring that the EU has absolute priority in distribution. For heavens sake don’t haggle over price etc in the midst of a pandemic. As a side note I think that AZ deliberately didn’t seek approval from the EU from its Halix factory as it needed to use that factory to meet its obligations with the UK.
Both the US and the UK signed early contracts which ensured the contractual obligations with them were met before any other country. Is it an export ban? No. Is it the same result under a different name? Not really, as its a case of the EU trying to jump the queue because they sucked at writing a contract. But is the hoarding by the US and UK helping anyone else - maybe even themselves - fight this global pandemic? Absolutely not.
Irish PM says EU vaccine export ban would be ‘a very retrograde step’ and ‘if we start that we’re in trouble’. Adds he made it ‘very clear’ to other leaders he’s against it. “They’re not EU vaccines. These are vaccines paid for by other countries that are manufactured in Europe”.
