- The EU hasn’t ruled out seizing control of AstraZeneca’s European labs amid concerns over a lack of available COVID-19 vaccines
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said all options are on the table, as the bloc seek to vaccinate their entire population
- The European Union has already established a special oversight on all locally made vaccines, with drugmakers forced to declare if they’re exporting them
- The bloc has also accused the U.K. Government of hoarding vaccines, a claim which Prime Minister Boris Johnson denies
- The EU’s vaccination rollout has been plagued by issues, including the third wave of infections and some countries’ decision to ban AstraZeneca’s jabs
The EU hasn’t ruled out seizing control of AstraZeneca’s European labs amid concerns over a lack of available COVID-19 vaccines.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said all options are on the table, as EU nations struggle to vaccinate their entire population.
“We are in the crisis of the century. I’m not ruling out anything for now because we have to make sure that Europeans are vaccinated as soon as possible,” she said.
“Human lives, civil liberties and also the prosperity of our economy are dependent on the speed of vaccinations,” the Commission President added.
The EU has already established a special oversight on all locally made vaccines, with drugmakers forced to declare if they’re exporting them.
This special oversight was behind the EU’s decision to stop 250,000 vaccines from being exported to Australia recently.
Meanwhile, along with seizing AstraZeneca’s laboratories in Europe, the EU is also considering stripping the drugmaker of all of its intellectual property rights.
Additionally, the bloc of nations has accused the U.K. Government of hoarding vaccines that have been made in Britain.
“It is hard to explain to our citizens why vaccines produced in the European Union are going to other countries that are also producing vaccines but hardly anything is coming back to the European Union,” Commissioner von der Leyen argues.
“This is about making sure Europe gets its fair share,” she added.
The U.K. Government has denied the claim, instead pointing to several European nations decision to temporarily suspend the rollout of AstraZeneca’s vaccine as the reason their inoculation program is behind.
These delays, combined with a looming third wave of infections, has prompted the EU Commissioner’s call for the vaccine program to be sped up, however possible.