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AstraZeneca Plc’s coronavirus vaccine is finally reaching European Union countries, as the bloc tries to speed up the inoculation campaign and put a period full of crisis behind it.
France will use it from Saturday, with a priority for health workers, after his first batch arrived Friday night. Germany, Ireland, Spain and Austria will also start offering the photos, while Portugal will receive deliveries early next week.
The doses are mostly transported by truck through hubs on the continent, and their arrival is a welcome development for the EU, which has spent the last few weeks in public with Astra over vaccine targets. That eventually spilled over into a back-and-forth accusation game, threats with protectionism and huge political errors that threatened the Brexit agreement between the UK and the EU.
Even with improved implementation, governments remain concerned about the delays of thousands still dying daily. They also remain blocked to control the spread of the virus, especially as new variants emerge.
Germany is likely to extend its Covid-19 restrictions for another two weeks, when Chancellor Angela Merkel and state government leaders meet next week, people familiar with the talks said. Greece on Friday high restrictions on movement and shopping.
In accordance with Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker, EU progress on vaccination lags far behind UK and US
Despite the slow start, the European Commission is following a vaccination plan for 70% of the adult population by the end of the summer. The pace is expected to grow rapidly in the coming months, with deliveries of at least 300 million doses in the second quarter.
Amid continuing concerns about the delays, a group of EU leaders called on European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen to swiftly conclude talks with other vaccine developers, such as Novovax and Valneva. They also highlighted the risks associated with Johnson & Johnson’s decision to deliver vaccines to the United States for packaging.
The J&J product “may be a potential game changer due to easier storage and transportation, as well as the need for a single dose,” the leaders said in a letter obtained by Bloomberg.
Astra’s shooting is the third to be eliminated by the EU drug regulator. Approved BioNTech SE vaccine and Pfizer Inc. in December and Moderna Inc. last month.
Many countries have been cautious about the Astra jab, recommending it only to those under 65 years of age. But governments are still relying on it to speed up the inoculation effort.
German Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Friday he would allow the country to double vaccinations in February from what would have been possible with Pfizer and Moderna alone. The Astra blow will initially be applied primarily to health care workers aged 64 years and younger, allowing those over 65 to be vaccinated faster with the other two.
Austria is also growing. In Vienna, the additional supply means that the city can deliver 28,600 doses next week, twice as much as in the week of February 1.
As governments try to recover from the vaccine disaster, they also want to prevent high-profile blunders from undermining public confidence. Spahn stressed this point on Friday, saying that all approved products are equally good for people under 65.
“We have, together with all three vaccines, effective tools to fight this pandemic,” he said in Berlin. “We the hope and expect more to follow soon. ”
– With the assistance of Iain Rogers, Geraldine Amiel, Boris Groendahl, Joao Lima, Henrique Almeida, Nikos Chrysoloras, Paul Tugwell, Ellen Proper and Sotiris Nikas