France ‘could join Italy’ and block AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine exports

Australia has asked the EU not to block AstraZeneca shipments

Credit:  DEAN LEWINS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Australia is under less pressure than many other countries, having recorded just under 29,000 Covid cases and 909 deaths.

Faced with initial shortages of doses, the EU issued an export control system for Covid vaccines in late January, obliging companies to respect their contractual obligations to the bloc before commercial exports can be approved.

The EU trained its fire on AstraZeneca saying it had delivered far fewer doses to the bloc than it had promised. Of the initial order for 80 million doses to the EU in the first quarter, the company will struggle to deliver half that quantity.

The EU initially trumpeted the merits of its vaccine strategy, after signing deals with six labs for 2.5 billion shots, including 400 million AstraZeneca doses, from six labs for a total population of 450 million.

However, the block has only given 33 million to date and only 11 million Europeans have been fully vaccinated.

Despite the sluggish start, the EU has maintained its goal of vaccinating 70 per cent of the adult population by the end of summer.