EU says UK and US have export bans on vaccines, EU allows export of Pfizer photos, Moderna

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FILE PHOTO: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives a press conference on the EU’s biodefence training program to increase the bloc’s ability to identify new coronavirus variants at European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 17 2021. Aris Oikonomou / Pool through REUTERS

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday that the EU allows COVID-19 vaccines to be exported, mainly from BionTech / Pfizer and Moderna, while the United States and the United Kingdom have mechanisms to block.

Von der Leyen told a news conference that about 95% of EU-manufactured vaccines that have been exported since January 30 were manufactured by Pfizer and BioNTech, and the rest by Moderna.

She said they both comply with their supply contracts with the EU and therefore there are no restrictions on their exports, while on AstraZeneca exports, the EU keeps a “very close eye” on the company’s shortcomings in deliveries to the bloc of 27 of nations.

Von der Leyen added that the United States and the United Kingdom had systems in place to effectively block the export of COVID-19 vaccines.

Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio; Edited by John Chalmers

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