News EU plans to have vaccine certificates ready by summer. Bruno Waterfield, Brussels. Daily infections in the country are accelerating and reached a three-month high last week. Now we are working with industry to prepare for the possibility of variants of the coronavirus that can resist vaccines. JPMorgan’s Dimon Says ‘This Boom Could Easily Run Into 2023’, Peter Thiel Calls Bitcoin ‘a Chinese Financial Weapon’ at Virtual Roundtable, DoorDash Drivers Game Algorithm to Increase Pay, U.K. to Avoid Astra Shots for Under 30s as EU Sees Clot Risk, Twitter Held Discussions for $4 Billion Takeover of Clubhouse. The Czech prime minister, Andrej Babiš, said it may consider giving emergency approval to vaccines not approved by the EU regulator while on a visit to Hungary, which is using both the Russian and Chinese vaccines. ASTRAZENECA’s Covid jab will no longer be offered to Brits under the age of 30 amid fears of extremely rare blood clots. “If a company doesn’t deliver, we cannot allow exports,” von der Leyen said. The EU has administered vaccines to 3.22% of its adult population, compared with 15.5% who have had a first jab in the UK. The bloc so far has given 9.1 shots per 100 people, according to the Bloomberg vaccine tracker. Von der Leyen said the chief cause of the difference in timescales between the EU and the UK was the slower authorisation process undertaken by the European Medicines Agency than that open to national regulators. “I would take the AstraZeneca vaccine without a second thought, just like Moderna’s and BioNTech/Pfizer’s products,” von der Leyen told the Augsburger Allgemeine. Ursula von der Leyen said the EC should have warned the public of the likely ‘ups and downs’ of the vaccine rollout. On Monday, Italy’s total coronavirus-related deaths surpassed 100,000, making it the sixth country to reach the grim milestone. The J&J shot is expected to be accepted at the European level this week, EU internal markets chief, Thierry Breton, said on France 2 television. In a blistering counter-attack against criticism over the European Union’s sluggish Covid-19 vaccination program, von der Leyen refocused blame on manufacturers, notably AstraZeneca Plc, which she said hadn’t stockpiled doses as it started producing in Europe. It wants the … The commission sees output of 90 million to 100 million doses a month by the end of March. “I am aware that alone a country can be a speedboat, while the EU is more like a tanker,” Von der Leyen said. She's been the face of the EU's vaccine crisis. We must be prepared for all eventualities.”. The EU’s executive branch wanted to temporarily override the terms of the treaty to establish a vaccine border on the island of Ireland to ensure that Northern Ireland could not be used as a backdoor for vaccine exports to the UK. “It’s good news for the whole of mankind because it means we will have more tools to fight the pandemic,” he said. U-turn on an a move to trigger article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol, temporarily override the terms of the treaty. — With assistance by Daniel Schaefer, Suzi Ring, and Nikos Chrysoloras. Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, said that several European countries were “interested in producing the vaccine on their territory”. As the European Union tries to accelerate inoculations, the death toll continues to rise. But such an ambitious target, mentioned by Finance Minister Olaf Scholz on Sunday, would require Germany to turbo-charge its so-far underwhelming rollout. European commission’s president admits it underestimated difficulties in vaccine rollout, First published on Fri 5 Feb 2021 09.20 GMT. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is trying to get out of the firing line as anger grows over the EU's botched vaccine rollout. As long as Astra “cannot explain why they did not deliver in Europe, we have a problem with seeing doses from Europe produced here in Europe going somewhere else,” she told a group of women journalists in Brussels. The European commission president admitted to mistakes along the way in the rollout of vaccines, including failing to invest sufficiently in upscaling production capacity. Updates with Italian death toll in fourth paragraph. Indeed, we must constantly put pressure on ourselves so that each step of the decision-making process is as fast and efficient as possible. “If you look at the rest of the world, we are very good where vaccination is concerned and the vaccination rates are rising,” von der Leyen said. von der Leyen admits to COVID-19 vaccine failures EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's comments come after much scrutiny of the EU vaccination programme. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen sought to deflect the blame for a humiliating U-turn over vaccine export controls, saying that … File photo. “From the very beginning I have supported Italy in its decision because, as we see, AstraZeneca is delivering below 10% of what” had initially been contracted for the first quarter. This is not something we would want to do in the EU.”. Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. The EU was late to authorise Covid-19 vaccines and "still not where we want to be", European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has … AstraZeneca has so far delivered about 10.7 million vaccines to the EU, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Thus, von der Leyen has clearly admitted that individual countries would have been able to procure and distribute vaccines faster than the EU. The commission sees output of 90 million to 100 million doses a month by the end of March. The World Needs the Not-for-Profit AstraZeneca Vaccine, Minu... South African Utility Eskom Contracts Swapped for Party Fund... Commission President von der Leyen criticizes drugmaker, Italy’s coronavirus death toll has now reached 100,000. Von der Leyen said AstraZeneca had not stockpiled doses before EU authorisation of their vaccine, and - despite what the company said before - the EU has singed its contract for vaccines a day before the firm signed with the UK. The bloc has so far administrated a vaccine to 17 million people, nearly four percent of its population, compared to 66 percent in Israel, 19 percent in the UK and 13 percent in the US. “Von der Leyen is not the problem,” said Hannah Neumann, a ... 4 First doses of Moderna vaccine arrive in UK April 6, 2021 3:00 pm 5 Regulators walk fine line assessing AstraZeneca vaccine April 6, 2021 10:59 pm Next up Juncker tries to take the sting out of Sofagate April 7, 2021 6:25 pm By Lili Bayer EU Confidential #194: EU faces Beijing backlash — European astronauts in … But Von der Leyen admitted that the bloc should have put more money into upscaling capacity. Governments are counting on increased deliveries of existing vaccines, as well as approval for others, to help accelerate the rollout. “I regret it. The commission has already threatened to block the export of millions of AstraZeneca vaccines from the company's Halix plant in Leiden, the Netherlands. She also conceded that the commission “underestimated the difficulties” it would face and should have warned the public in advance of the likely “ups and downs”. Ursula von der Leyen has repeatedly complained that Boris Johnson has pursued a selfish policy of 'vaccine nationalism', instead of showing solidarity with his European neighbours. Von der Leyen tried to sound a hopeful longer-term note on EU vaccine supplies, raising the target for the 450m-population bloc for the second quarter of the year from 300m doses to 360m. Last week, the commission had to U-turn on an a move to trigger article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol in the Brexit withdrawal agreement as part of its attempt to control vaccine exports out of the bloc. Von der Leyen said things were improving in the EU, where monthly vaccine production is to be doubled. Commission spokesman Eric Mamer clarified to journalists in Brussels on Monday that the forecast for 300 million doses in the second quarter takes all available vaccines into account, including those yet to gain regulatory approval, such as one from Johnson & Johnson. People aged 18-29 will now be given an alternative vaccine … On these vaccines, we worked faster than usual. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen today compared vaccine nationalism to the Cold War space race. Ms Von der Leyen gave no timetable or projected volume for the delivery of vaccine doses from the AstraZeneca plants in Oxford and Keele to the EU. Israel has administered a jab to 60% of its population. The European Commission is “tired of being the scapegoat” for the slow rollout of vaccines, its president, Ursula von der Leyen, said as she continues to face pressure over the EU’s uncertain response to the pandemic. “This naturally delays the process. Von der Leyen did not apologise for the commission’s ill-fated plan to seek to erect a vaccine border on the island of Ireland by triggering a clause in the Brexit withdrawal agreement. We have chosen another, and we believe it is the right one. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives a presser on the EU's vaccine strategy in Brussels, Belgium, 8 January 2021. “To increase volumes, to set up new supply chains sufficiently upstream, we could have done it earlier. The question now is what the impact will be on Ursula von der Leyen's broader agenda for Europe once the pandemic is behind her. Monday February 15 2021, 12.00pm, The Times. Von der Leyen said things were improving in the EU, where monthly vaccine production is to be doubled. “What I realise, looking in the rearview mirror, is that we should have thought more, in parallel, about mass production and the challenges it poses,” she said. Von der Leyen, a former German defence minister, said that while collective decision-making could be cumbersome, it ensured poorer EU countries were not left behind, according to the French newspaper La Croix. But, in an interview with nine European newspapers, she defended Brussels against recent criticism that it had gone too slowly in agreeing contracts in light of a deal being agreed between the UK and AstraZeneca three months before the bloc. “Now of course the issue is whether the producer asks for the approval or not, and we of course want to consider, if we get hold of the vaccine, to go the similar way as Hungary did because time is of essence.”. When Jean-Claude Juncker, her predecessor in the commission’s Berlaymont headquarters, took aim at the EU’s error-strewn vaccine strategy last week, it prompted a … The company has promised to supply 40 million doses by the end of March. As European countries struggle to increase inoculation rates, they are faced with what to do about vaccines produced within the bloc being exported elsewhere. EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has announced the 'vaccine passports' amid concerns over a slow vaccine rollout and shortages. The country is highly digitalised – and that’s good – but personal health data is given to companies there. Meanwhile, during an awkward trip to Moscow, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs Josep Borrell welcomed the development of Russia’s Sputnik vaccine, adding that it would be welcome given the bloc as “facing a shortage of vaccines”. "We are not where we want to be today in the fight against the virus," commission president Ursula von der Leyen told MEPs on Wednesday. Von der Leyen's comments on Wednesday came as the Commission is seeking to restore confidence in EU capitals over the management of the bloc's own vaccine strategy, which has moved far more slowly than it had hoped, mainly as a result of unexpected manufacturing shortfalls. Because the best lesson learned in recent months is that you never know what will happen in a year. "We are looking not at countries but at companies … AstraZeneca has to show first of all an improvement or a rise of deliveries before they can export AstraZeneca production from Europe," … Von der Leyen maintained the tough stance, telling a news conference that AstraZeneca 'has to honour the contract it has with the European member … That compares with more than 27 doses in the U.S. and almost 35 in the U.K. Germany, the EU’s largest country, will drastically speed up its coronavirus vaccination campaign and aims to get shots to as many as 10 million people a week from the end of March. Von der Leyen said she expected the bloc to receive 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccines every month from April. I can’t even imagine what it would have meant for Europe, in terms of unity, if one or more member states had access to vaccines and not the others.”. “We shouldn’t even have thought about article 16,” she said. “Before concluding a contract with a pharmaceutical company, the 27 member states had five full days to say whether they agreed or not. While von der Leyen acknowledged some missteps by the Commission, participants in the meetings said she defended the EU's joint vaccine procurement program, insisted that the Commission was pushing to make all of its vaccine purchasing agreements public, and said that pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca still has not sufficiently explained a production shortfall that will leave the EU tens of … “We must immediately support science, so that vaccines are adapted as quickly as possible. Italy last week blocked a shipment of Astra’s vaccine to Australia, using a recently introduced EU regulation for the first time. Fri 5 Feb 2021 08.56 EST 331 Ursula von der Leyen has said a country on its own such as the UK can act more like a “speedboat” than the EU “tanker” … “Israel is also often cited as a model of success. It’s distributed about 7.3 million doses in total since inoculations started 10 weeks ago. “I have spoken about the Russian vaccine, and about the Chinese vaccine, with Chancellor Merkel, and the chancellor as well as the Bavarian prime minister are unambiguously calling for this vaccine to be approved by the European Medicines Agency,” Babiš said. “The industry has never suddenly embarked on such a gamble …. Two chairs, three leaders: the European Commission hit out after its chief Ursula von der Leyen was left without a chair as Turkey’s president sat down for talks with her male counterpart. The beleaguered Brussels chief said … Von der Leyen was speaking yesterday in an interview with selected European media, regarding a problem in the supply of vaccines that led to the brink of a diplomatic row with the UK and legal action against one vaccine manufacturer. “But I am absolutely convinced that the European approach is the right one. “I think it’s the responsibility of the company to organize its deliveries.”. The commission took around 1,500 decisions in a short period of time and almost 900 emergency decisions under very high pressure.”. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has taken a swipe at the UK over “transparency” on vaccine exports, casting fresh doubt on hopes … Ursula von der Leyen’s vaccine disaster has ruined UK ties, says senior MEP. The European Union was too late to approve COVID-19 vaccines and overly optimistic regarding production, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen … Ursula von der Leyen has said a country on its own such as the UK can act more like a “speedboat” than the EU “tanker” but that the 27 governments are right to work together on their vaccination programme. She said: “The UK has chosen the route of emergency marketing authorisations. Photographer: Antonio Masiello/Getty Images. Have a confidential tip for our reporters? Figures compiled by the data analytics company Airfinity suggest that the US has invested nine times as much as the EU in upscaling manufacturing vaccines although the figures have been disputed by the commission. It may partly explain the EU’s slow delivery. However, von der Leyen underscored the EU’s financial support for the COVAX initiative, an effort by the World Health Organization to give poorer countries access to vaccines.