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The EU has failed to secure contracts ensuring the EU produced vaccine stays in the EU[1]. So far the EU has exported 41.6 million doses of the vaccine (the la

The EU has failed to secure contracts ensuring the EU produced vaccine stays in the EU[1]. So far the EU has exported 41.6 million doses of the vaccine (the largest importer being the UK)[2]. Both the US and the UK have exported 0 vaccines. [1] https://twitter.com/davekeating/status/1372897635577761803 https://twitter.com/davekeating/status/1372897635577761803 [2] https://twitter.com/AlexTaylorNews/status/1373621472607010817 https://twitter.com/AlexTaylorNews/status/137362147260701081...

dundarious 5y ago
AFAIK you are correct except perhaps that US and UK have exported 0 vaccines, though the number is probably quite small relatively speaking, and certainly smaller than the EU (foolishly) expected.
FranzFerdiNaN 5y ago
This os the EU being a good ally. The expectation was that the UK and US would also help by exporting part of their production, which was indeed dumb. The US also didnt secure such contracts, they simply forbid any export. The UK is helped by AZ not sending anything produced in the UK to the EU, despite the EU contract stipulating that doses would also come from the UK.
- rsynnott 5y ago
  Not just that; quite a lot of EU AZ production goes to the UK, too.
  - koyote 5y ago
    Do you have a source on that? I was under impression that the UK manufactures their entire AZ stock and the only vaccine produced in the EU for the UK is Pfizer/BioNTech
    - kuschku 5y ago
      70% of the doses the EU bought were instead delivered to the UK to fulfill AZ's obligation to the UK. After that initial batch, a further 8 million EU doses were exported to the UK, and a further 46 million EU doses were exported to other countries, including the US. Just this second batch would have tripled the EU's vaccination rate so far.
    - makomk 5y ago
      The UK doesn't quite manufacture its entire supply of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine - some is imported from India, and apparently one small batch was from a factory in the Netherlands which doesn't have enough production capacity to make much of a dent in the European demand: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/56483766 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/56483766 But yeah, the vast majority is apparently locally manufactured. The EU has been pushing the conspiracy theory that the reason there's a shortfall in supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine there is because they've been exporting it all to Britain, but there's no evidence for that which anyone can find and the numbers don't add up either.
- onetimemanytime 5y ago
  >>The US also didnt secure such contracts, they simply forbid any export. USA bought vaccines from everyone a year ago and opened the check book, giving them billions without knowing if the vaccine will work. And then put all their weight to help them find factories and stuff. So USA gambled relatively nothing (Covid has cost many trillions) and gained a lot. EU doing what they do best...meetings. USA bans exports in this sense: if Pfizer agreed to give USA 50 million shots in March, no exports until that number is delivered. Seems fair.
  - bryanlarsen 5y ago
    Pfizer wasn't part of Operation Warp Speed, they refused to join because they figured the bureaucracy would slow them down. They did take some money from Germany though, because it came without strings. Is it a coincidence that they were the first vaccine approved? So to be fair it should be Germany getting all those Pfizer shots rather than the US.
    - onetimemanytime 5y ago
      But USA signed a purchase agreement to buy the vaccines way before EU did. Pfizer is obligated to deliver them first. Warp speed was just to get it going, USA would cover any loses. Can we agree that $20 or even $50 Billion is NOTHING to USA or EU at this point...each month in delays costs more. USA realized that a year ago and blocked doses from all, including 100 million Pfizer doses in July 2020. https://investors.pfizer.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2020/Pfizer-and-BioNTech-Announce-an-Agreement-with-U.S.-Government-for-up-to-600-Million-Doses-of-mRNA-based-Vaccine-Candidate-Against-SARS-CoV-2/default.aspx https://investors.pfizer.com/investor-news/press-release-det...
      - foepys 5y ago
        You cannot compare this just by contracts. The US is blocking all exports of COVID-19 vaccines (except for AZ to Mexico and Canada just now). Pfizer/Biontech were until just a few weeks ago only producing in one location inside the EU so they were bottlenecked in fulfilling EU demand. Meanwhile the EU doesn't block exports. The EU did a bad job but we have to keep the facts straight.
- makomk 5y ago
  No, the expectation was that the EU vaccine demand would be supplied by EU factories. The UK doesn't even have final manufacturing for any vaccines other than the AstraZeneca one - for the most part, our government has taken a policy of funding and signing contracts with the same factories supplying the EU and assuming they wouldn't pull some export ban stunt to distract from their own problems. (This was probably naive.) And as for the AstraZeneca vaccine, the expectation that the contracted-for doses would come from their EU factories is literally written into their contract with the EU...
  - yyyk 5y ago
    Lipids for the Pfizer vaccine are manufactured in the UK. A total EU export ban would have elicited a response nobody would have liked.
DrBazza 5y ago
The EU doesn't export anything, it's AZ and Pfizer that are exporting, as per their contracts with the UK and other countries. It is up to AZ and Pfizer to decide how to use their factories to meet their contractual obligations with the UK and the EU. The UK (companies) on the other hand are exporting vaccine components (fatty lipids) that enable those factories to produce vaccines for not only the UK, but the EU, and Australia, if it ever receives its doses.
- vrepsys 5y ago
  The UK has partially funded AZ and added a clause into the contract that will prioritise UK for future vaccine exports from the UK. And that's exactly what's happening, all AZ produced in UK stays in UK) Whereas a similar contract between Germany and Biontech (Germany paid biontech $445 million to help develop the vaccine) didn't include a clause defining export priorities. Pfizer-Biontech is exported all over the world. Canada, for example, gets their Pfizer-Biontech from the EU, instead of Michigan where they're also produced.
- systemvoltage 5y ago
  Why are people so defensive of any criticism of EU? There are a lot of good things that come out of EU, their vaccine program is a complete shitshow. Europeans should observe that and shed light on it. The social media is full to the brim with "EU exported because they're nice guys" including the top comment on HN.
  - DrBazza 5y ago
    > Why are people so defensive of any criticism of EU? Or any opinion these days? Social media. The mute button, echo chambers, confirmation bias, lack of critical thought, and so on? I think the events of the last few years will keep psychologists in business for decades. A Douglas Adams quote feels apt: "So long as you can keep disagreeing with each other violently enough and slagging each other off in the popular press, you can keep yourself on the gravy train for life. "
  - the_mitsuhiko 5y ago
    You can be both critical of the EU vaccine rollout and still find it unacceptable that the other countries are not exporting but the EU is supposed to.

dundarious 5y ago

AFAIK you are correct except perhaps that US and UK have exported 0 vaccines, though the number is probably quite small relatively speaking, and certainly smaller than the EU (foolishly) expected.

FranzFerdiNaN 5y ago

This os the EU being a good ally. The expectation was that the UK and US would also help by exporting part of their production, which was indeed dumb. The US also didnt secure such contracts, they simply forbid any export. The UK is helped by AZ not sending anything produced in the UK to the EU, despite the EU contract stipulating that doses would also come from the UK.

rsynnott 5y ago
Not just that; quite a lot of EU AZ production goes to the UK, too.
- koyote 5y ago
  Do you have a source on that? I was under impression that the UK manufactures their entire AZ stock and the only vaccine produced in the EU for the UK is Pfizer/BioNTech
  - kuschku 5y ago
    70% of the doses the EU bought were instead delivered to the UK to fulfill AZ's obligation to the UK. After that initial batch, a further 8 million EU doses were exported to the UK, and a further 46 million EU doses were exported to other countries, including the US. Just this second batch would have tripled the EU's vaccination rate so far.
  - makomk 5y ago
    The UK doesn't quite manufacture its entire supply of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine - some is imported from India, and apparently one small batch was from a factory in the Netherlands which doesn't have enough production capacity to make much of a dent in the European demand: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/56483766 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/56483766 But yeah, the vast majority is apparently locally manufactured. The EU has been pushing the conspiracy theory that the reason there's a shortfall in supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine there is because they've been exporting it all to Britain, but there's no evidence for that which anyone can find and the numbers don't add up either.
onetimemanytime 5y ago
>>The US also didnt secure such contracts, they simply forbid any export. USA bought vaccines from everyone a year ago and opened the check book, giving them billions without knowing if the vaccine will work. And then put all their weight to help them find factories and stuff. So USA gambled relatively nothing (Covid has cost many trillions) and gained a lot. EU doing what they do best...meetings. USA bans exports in this sense: if Pfizer agreed to give USA 50 million shots in March, no exports until that number is delivered. Seems fair.
- bryanlarsen 5y ago
  Pfizer wasn't part of Operation Warp Speed, they refused to join because they figured the bureaucracy would slow them down. They did take some money from Germany though, because it came without strings. Is it a coincidence that they were the first vaccine approved? So to be fair it should be Germany getting all those Pfizer shots rather than the US.
  - onetimemanytime 5y ago
    But USA signed a purchase agreement to buy the vaccines way before EU did. Pfizer is obligated to deliver them first. Warp speed was just to get it going, USA would cover any loses. Can we agree that $20 or even $50 Billion is NOTHING to USA or EU at this point...each month in delays costs more. USA realized that a year ago and blocked doses from all, including 100 million Pfizer doses in July 2020. https://investors.pfizer.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2020/Pfizer-and-BioNTech-Announce-an-Agreement-with-U.S.-Government-for-up-to-600-Million-Doses-of-mRNA-based-Vaccine-Candidate-Against-SARS-CoV-2/default.aspx https://investors.pfizer.com/investor-news/press-release-det...
    - foepys 5y ago
      You cannot compare this just by contracts. The US is blocking all exports of COVID-19 vaccines (except for AZ to Mexico and Canada just now). Pfizer/Biontech were until just a few weeks ago only producing in one location inside the EU so they were bottlenecked in fulfilling EU demand. Meanwhile the EU doesn't block exports. The EU did a bad job but we have to keep the facts straight.
makomk 5y ago
No, the expectation was that the EU vaccine demand would be supplied by EU factories. The UK doesn't even have final manufacturing for any vaccines other than the AstraZeneca one - for the most part, our government has taken a policy of funding and signing contracts with the same factories supplying the EU and assuming they wouldn't pull some export ban stunt to distract from their own problems. (This was probably naive.) And as for the AstraZeneca vaccine, the expectation that the contracted-for doses would come from their EU factories is literally written into their contract with the EU...
- yyyk 5y ago
  Lipids for the Pfizer vaccine are manufactured in the UK. A total EU export ban would have elicited a response nobody would have liked.

DrBazza 5y ago

The EU doesn't export anything, it's AZ and Pfizer that are exporting, as per their contracts with the UK and other countries. It is up to AZ and Pfizer to decide how to use their factories to meet their contractual obligations with the UK and the EU. The UK (companies) on the other hand are exporting vaccine components (fatty lipids) that enable those factories to produce vaccines for not only the UK, but the EU, and Australia, if it ever receives its doses.

vrepsys 5y ago
The UK has partially funded AZ and added a clause into the contract that will prioritise UK for future vaccine exports from the UK. And that's exactly what's happening, all AZ produced in UK stays in UK) Whereas a similar contract between Germany and Biontech (Germany paid biontech $445 million to help develop the vaccine) didn't include a clause defining export priorities. Pfizer-Biontech is exported all over the world. Canada, for example, gets their Pfizer-Biontech from the EU, instead of Michigan where they're also produced.
systemvoltage 5y ago
Why are people so defensive of any criticism of EU? There are a lot of good things that come out of EU, their vaccine program is a complete shitshow. Europeans should observe that and shed light on it. The social media is full to the brim with "EU exported because they're nice guys" including the top comment on HN.
- DrBazza 5y ago
  > Why are people so defensive of any criticism of EU? Or any opinion these days? Social media. The mute button, echo chambers, confirmation bias, lack of critical thought, and so on? I think the events of the last few years will keep psychologists in business for decades. A Douglas Adams quote feels apt: "So long as you can keep disagreeing with each other violently enough and slagging each other off in the popular press, you can keep yourself on the gravy train for life. "
- the_mitsuhiko 5y ago
  You can be both critical of the EU vaccine rollout and still find it unacceptable that the other countries are not exporting but the EU is supposed to.