European Commission–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine dispute

A dispute broke out in January 2021 between the European Commission and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca AB about the provision of COVID-19 vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic,[1] and, in February, spilled out into a dispute over Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol.[2][3][4][5] Vaccination proceeded apace in the UK but more slowly in the EU, and by the end of March 2021, over 30% of the UK population had received at least one dose of vaccine compared to about 8% of the EU population. This was partly due to limited availability of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the EU. The World Health Organization and the European Medicines Agency continued to state that the vaccine was safe and effective. However, a representative of the European Medicines Agency said in June that vaccines based on the mRNA technology should be preferred if available for all age groups, including for the over 60s.[6]

  1. ^ Woodcock, Andrew (28 January 2021). "Vaccine war brewing as EU demands Covid jabs produced in UK". The Independent. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  2. ^ Blenkinsop, Philip (29 January 2021). "AstraZeneca contract includes UK as 'best effort' base for output to EU". Reuters.
  3. ^ "EU vaccine export row: Bloc backtracks on controls for NI". BBC: News. 30 January 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  4. ^ Bannerman, David Campbell (31 January 2021). "The EU's vaccine blunder has exposed major flaws in the Northern Ireland protocol". Telegraph Media Group Limited.
  5. ^ Foster, Arlene (3 February 2021). "Sticking plasters will not fix the fundamental flaws in the Northern Ireland Protocol". Telegraph Media Group Limited.
  6. ^ "AstraZeneca shots should be halted for over-60s too - EMA official". Reuters. 13 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.