EU playing politics with Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine

[Pontius Navigator]

I think BOAC is right, follow the money. Not just the vaccine producer but all the ancillary contracts. The vaccine needs special freezers. It needs special handling which needs special PPE and so on.

[Boac]

One of the many notably 'poor' press briefings by Tony Hancock today. Either hiding the truth or totally unprepared for the apparent 'bombshell' letter to NHS vax providers which appeared telling them effectively NOT to use any unused vax bookings during the whole of April due to what appear to be 'problems' in vaccine supply'. Whether all this is bound up in the forthcoming UK/EU war which must break out soon or not was left unclear.

[OFSO]

Report from French journalist today that Macron hates the British so much he can't even say the words Astra Zeneca. He and Merkel are blocking UK vaccine even though it's costing lives.

[Boac]

The good thing (from a parochial view) is that the 'Micron's' efforts should be helping to improve supply of the AZ vaccine to the needy.

[Boac]

Re post #22: Things a little clearer this morning (no thanks to Tony Hancock...). It appears a delivery of AZ from India to the UK has a hiccup of unknown origin. This means that the roll-out of vax to the 40yr + generation - which was over and above the planned JCVI timetable, and was anticipated due to the excellent above-expectation UK roll-out so far - cannot go ahead at present. Vax centres have therefore been told NOT to start booking in this group in April.

Once we blow away all the media hype it would appear there is not really a problem. Why on earth dickhead couldn't have said so yesterday .................

[Pontius Navigator]

I am surprised that we were getting any from India anyway. Their plant was to produce one billion doses for the Covax scheme. So our 10m would only be 1% if I got the nought in the right place.

[Boac]

It's number 46 or 47 if you want Papadums with it.

[Rwy in Sight]

Arguably one of the best comments(for me at least) for the chasm the Channel represents in the way each side thinks

In the same vein, Telegraph's Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (found here) points out that the British are the children of Sir Francis Bacon and his empiricism, while in continental Europe merged with the Germans' rage for zero risk, creating a monster of precaution and a long list of destructive policies.

[Mrs Ex-Ascot]

This is a well written comment by Dominic Lawson IMO; https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/arti ... there.html

[Undried Plum]

Can anybody tell me, please, why we don't make these two vaccines here in the UK?

Wouldn't to do so give us to us some strength and an indicator thereof, as well as giving us some healing power to our so-called ministry of "Defence"?

WTF? Harrumpph!

[Pontius Navigator]

UP, which two? Seems we ready make the AZ here and now the French vaccine is also being made in Scotland.

What Brexit has done is to drive a wedge between divisions of international, or at least European, conglomerates that have interdependent plant in different countries.

[Undried Plum]

Yes.

That was my point of argument.

What I badly explained was that what we need is a "joined up" policy to deal with the virus.

We need to agree with the bastards, not because they are what they are, but because they are bastards who control us.

[ian16th]

This is a rather nice comment from the Mail:

Alan, Glasgow, 2 minutes ago

Perhaps we could do something to really annoy them, like parachute drops of AZ vaccines over Berlin....from a Lancaster.

Can Coningsby get the BoB Flight Lancaster ready?

[Alisoncc]

If the process uses Oxford intellectual property in the manufacture of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, would it not be possible to withdraw those rights from European manufacturers? Or ban it's use in the EU by virtue of same?

[OFSO]

Don't worry Alison. The EU countries only want to get the AZ vaccine so they can firstly store it and secondly chuck it away. We could send them bottles of water and it wouldn't make any difference.

[Mrs Ex-Ascot]

Don't worry Alison. The EU countries only want to get the AZ vaccine so they can firstly store it and secondly chuck it away. We could send them bottles of water and it wouldn't make any difference.

In which case why don't they let the UK have their doses and send the rest down to us in the Southern hemisphere gratis?

[boing]

Because if they sent it somewhere else and it was shown to be low risk and effective they would look pretty stupid, well more stupid than they look now, wouldn't they.
Only the suspicion of risk gives them any credibility.

.

[Smeagol]

Because if they sent it somewhere else and it was shown to be low risk and effective they would look pretty stupid, well more stupid than they look now, wouldn't they.
Only the suspicion of risk gives them any credibility.

.

I don't think certain European politicians, Macron and Merkel in particular, could make themselves look more stupid than they have already. They are both world class in appearing stupid. I think that on balance, however, Macron has the edge and is the clear leader in the stupidity stakes.

[OFSO]

EU now hanging fire on Russian vaccine certification, saying "anyway, the EU doesn't need it, and if they did need it, which they don't, it wouldn't be available until 2022 so why bother certifying it... "

But the EU Commission has a point. With 14 million doses in store and unusable, they *don't* need any more vaccine...

[Pontius Navigator]

If the process uses Oxford intellectual property in the manufacture of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, would it not be possible to withdraw those rights from European manufacturers? Or ban it's use in the EU by virtue of same?

I think the former German Minister of Defence, following prior precedent, threatened to seize the patents and the factories.