By Giovanni Legorano
Italy blocked the export of AstraZeneca PLC's Covid-19 vaccine
to Australia, in a move coordinated with European Union
authorities, reflecting mounting frustration in Europe with slow
deliveries of vaccines.
The move was prompted by the persisting shortage of vaccines in
Italy and the EU, delays in the supply of vaccines by AstraZeneca
and the fact that Australia is considered a "nonvulnerable country"
to Covid-19 under EU regulations, Italy's Ministry of Foreign
Affairs said.
The decision affects 250,700 doses, a number the ministry said
was high compared with what has been delivered so far by
AstraZeneca. The doses were bottled at a factory near Rome that is
part of the company's supply chain. AstraZeneca has delivered
around 1.5 million doses to Italy, according to the government.
Representatives for AstraZeneca declined to comment on the
decision.
The move by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi's government in
Rome is the first use of a new EU policy that allows controls to be
imposed on the export of Covid-19 vaccines. The EU is struggling to
meet public expectations of a large-scale vaccine rollout that
would rein in Covid-19 contagion and allow the easing of onerous
restrictions that have weighed on Europe's daily life and economy
for months.
EU authorities have come under criticism for a vaccine strategy
that bet on procuring an array of different vaccines -- some of
which still aren't approved or available -- and has been slow in
comparison with regulatory and procurement efforts in the U.K. and
U.S.
The U.K.'s rapid vaccine rollout and accompanying drop in
Covid-19 hospitalizations has heightened pressure on the EU. Some
officials and member countries have blamed the drug companies,
particularly AstraZeneca, for the holdups.
Blocking vaccine exports holds risks for the EU, if the
precedent set by Italy spreads and other parts of the world
retaliate. Europe's vaccination plans depend partly on doses and
ingredients made outside the continent.
The European Commission in late January adopted what it called a
"transparency and authorization mechanism" to ensure that vaccine
doses from companies with which the EU had already signed contracts
weren't being shipped outside the bloc.
The commission stressed that the measure, enacted initially
through the end of this month, isn't an export ban. Instead, EU
countries established systems to authorize vaccine exports. Until
the Italian decision, all 174 export requests across the bloc since
Jan. 30 had been approved, EU officials said.
Decisions to approve or block exports are taken at the national
level and cleared with EU authorities in Brussels, based on an
analysis of data supplied by the vaccine producer. If a country
determines that the company is exporting vaccines before meeting
its contractual obligation in the EU, the exports can be
blocked.
AstraZeneca had asked the Italian government for permission to
export the 250,000 doses, in accordance with the policy. Rome
declined and the European Commission, the EU's executive arm,
supported the Italian government's decision, Italy's Ministry of
Foreign Affairs said.
During a videoconference with EU leaders last week, Mr. Draghi
was among the most vocal in pushing for the EU to consider
tightening its export-review system, including potentially blocking
exports of vaccine ingredients. Senior EU officials said the
commission is now reviewing its vaccine supply chain to identify
potential risks for the bloc.
Italy's step marks an escalation of tensions that erupted in
January between European officials and AstraZeneca, after the
Anglo-Swedish drugmaker said it would deliver tens of millions
fewer doses than planned to the bloc in February and March.
AstraZeneca struggled to fix production shortfalls at a Belgian
plant, leading to a war of words with the bloc. European officials
accused the drugmaker of shortchanging Europe while favoring the
U.K. AstraZeneca's chief executive, Pascal Soriot, fired back,
telling an Italian newspaper that the U.K. had committed to
ordering months earlier, allowing production to increase. He said
AstraZeneca wouldn't divert doses from the U.K. but would work to
bolster European supplies and catch up to its obligations.
Last week, amid concerns that shortages of AstraZeneca shots for
the EU would continue for several more months, the company said it
was working on plans with manufacturers in other parts of the
world, including Asia, to bring doses to Europe.
The company said it still aimed to deliver 180 million doses to
the EU in the second quarter. "Approximately half of the expected
volume is due to come from the EU supply chain, while the remainder
would come from its international supply network," a company
spokesman said at the time.
AstraZeneca has promised to deliver 3 billion doses globally
this year, more than any other vaccine maker, and to do so without
profiting. That ambitious task has gotten off to a rocky start.
Dr. Soriot last year said the company had created a complex
global supply chain designed to manufacture doses close to where
they would be used. One of the aims was to avoid any political
hurdles in getting shipments from one part of the world to another.
Such political obstacles, along with regulatory-approval and
manufacturing delays, are proving to be difficult to surmount.
--Laurence Norman in Brussels contributed to this article.
Write to Giovanni Legorano at giovanni.legorano@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 04, 2021 13:51 ET (18:51 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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