A decision to block a shipment of 250,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine destined for Australia was “not a hostile act,” Italian officials said on Friday.
Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Luigi Di Maio made the remark while speaking at a news conference after a meeting with French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian.
“All of Europe is now ravaged by the British variant and by the concern for the increase in infections,” he said. “In coordination with the European institutions, we have decided not to allow the export of these 250,000 doses.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
“It is not a hostile act towards Australia. We have only applied an EU regulation approved on Jan. 30,” he said.
The Italian government rejected AstraZeneca’s request to export doses to Australia on the grounds that the Anglo-Swedish company was failing to fulfil its promises on deliveries to the EU.
The EU has been engaged in a high-profile row with AstraZeneca since it informed officials of a shortfall in deliveries this quarter, owing to a production problem at one of its EU sites.
The company has said it can supply only about 40 million doses by the end of this month, compared with the 90 million foreseen in its contract.
A mechanism under which vaccine suppliers would need to gain authorization for exports out of the EU was drawn up in January, amid concerns that doses made in the bloc were being delivered to the UK.
Di Maio said that coronavirus vaccination campaigns needed to be sped up across the EU.
Australian Minister of Health Greg Hunt said that Italy’s move did not affect the pace of its COVID-19 vaccine rollout, because that shipment “had not been factored in to our distribution to the states and territories.”
The Australian government had “raised the issue with the European Commission through multiple channels, and in particular, we have asked the European Commission to review this decision,” he said.
German Minister of Health Jens Spahn has expressed caution over the long-term impact on global vaccine supplies after Italy’s move to reject the onward movement of doses, with the European Commission’s backing.
“With a measure like that, in the short term there’s a win, but we have to be careful that it doesn’t cause us problems in the medium term by disrupting the supply chains for vaccines and everything that’s needed in terms of precursors,” Spahn said.
French Minister of Health Olivier Veran said that his government could follow suit, given the shortage of doses in Europe.
In Italy, there were more than 24,000 new cases recorded on Friday and about 300 deaths.
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