Europe has a vaccine shortage. So why is it fighting with AstraZeneca?
The European Union has been locked in a very public and acrimonious fight with AstraZeneca over vaccine delays.
The temperature may have cooled slightly after a meeting late Wednesday, which both sides said was constructive, but the problem hasn't been fixed yet and the stakes for EU countries are high.
These are the battle lines: AstraZeneca says it can't deliver as many doses as the European Union expected. The European Commission, which ordered the vaccine on behalf of EU member states, says this is unacceptable, and the drugmaker must find a way to increase supply.
The dispute is playing out against a dire backdrop. EU countries including Germany are running low on vaccines, the death toll is mounting, and the slow rollout of shots across the bloc is threatening a very fragile economic recovery from the pandemic.
What's the latest?
https://zenodo.org/record/4482996#.YBZFGOgzbDc
https://zenodo.org/record/4482998#.YBZFGugzbDc
https://zenodo.org/record/4483000#.YBZFH-gzbDc
https://zenodo.org/record/4483006#.YBZHWOgzbDc
https://zenodo.org/record/4483008#.YBZHWugzbDc
Tensions eased after Wednesday's meeting between AstraZeneca and EU officials. EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said the discussion with AstraZeneca (AZN) CEO Pascal Soriot had a "constructive tone," but she requested more information from the company on its deliveries.
"We regret the continued lack of clarity on the delivery schedule and request a clear plan from AstraZeneca for the fast delivery of the quantity of vaccines that we reserved for [the first quarter]," she said on Twitter.
EU and AstraZeneca fight over vaccine delays while death toll mounts
EU and AstraZeneca fight over vaccine delays while death toll mounts
The British-Swedish company committed to closer coordination following the meeting.
"We had a constructive and open conversation about the complexities of scaling up production of our vaccine, and the challenges we have encountered. We have committed to even closer coordination to jointly chart a path for the delivery of our vaccine over the coming months," a spokesperson said.
The numbers
The dispute began on Monday when EU officials said they had been told by AstraZeneca that production problems meant the company would supply "considerably fewer" doses in the coming weeks than had been agreed.
The European Commission has ordered 400 million doses on behalf of EU member states and is poised to start rolling them out across the bloc once the vaccine is approved, possibly this week.
"Pharmaceutical companies and vaccine developers have moral, societal and contractual responsibilities which they need to uphold," Kyriakides told reporters on Wednesday. "The view that the company is not obliged to deliver [vaccines] ... is neither correct nor acceptable."
The AstraZeneca vaccine is being administered in the United Kingdom. It is not yet approved in the European Union.
https://zenodo.org/record/4483010#.YBZHXegzbDc
https://zenodo.org/record/4483016#.YBZJ5OgzbDc
https://zenodo.org/record/4483018#.YBZJ5ugzbDc
https://zenodo.org/record/4483020#.YBZJ6OgzbDc
https://zenodo.org/record/4483023#.YBZMAegzbDc
The AstraZeneca vaccine is being administered in the United Kingdom. It is not yet approved in the European Union.
EU officials have declined to specify the scale of the AstraZeneca vaccine shortfall, and the company hasn't given details. But the shock development came as the European Commission was still trying to assess the impact of Pfizer (PFE) slowing EU deliveries of the vaccine it developed with BioNTech while a manufacturing facility was upgraded.
What does AstraZeneca say?
Soriot told the Italian newspaper la Repubblica on Tuesday that AstraZeneca was not able to guarantee the timing of EU deliveries because countries such as the United Kingdom were quicker to finalize orders. There are also crucial differences in the EU and UK vaccine contracts.
"The contract with the UK was signed first and the UK, of course, said 'you supply us first,' and this is fair enough," Soriot said. Three months later, when the European Union wanted to be supplied "more or less at the same time" as the United Kingdom, AstraZeneca was not able to make that commitment.
"Our contract [with the European Union] is not a contractual commitment. It's a best effort. Basically we said we're going to try our best, but we can't guarantee we're going to succeed. In fact, getting there, we are a little bit delayed," he said.
Why Oxford's Covid-19 vaccine could do more for the world than other shots
Why Oxford's Covid-19 vaccine could do more for the world than other shots
The European Union has acknowledged it signed a "best effort" agreement with AstraZeneca.
It's not clear whether EU officials have any more cards to play regarding the contract dispute. One EU diplomat noted that the European Union has been quick to start legal proceedings in the past, and would be instructing lawyers now if it believed AstraZeneca had breached its contract.
Why can't AstraZeneca make more vaccine or divert supplies?
Soriot acknowledged in the interview that his company had experienced problems at one large manufacturing facility in Europe. He said the early phase of vaccine production is often "complicated," and the company is "basically two months behind" where it wanted to be.
https://zenodo.org/record/4483025#.YBZMBegzbDc
https://zenodo.org/record/4483027#.YBZMC-gzbDc
https://zenodo.org/record/4483034#.YBZOwugzbDc
https://zenodo.org/record/4483036#.YBZOxegzbDc
https://zenodo.org/record/4483038#.YBZOxugzbDc
"Would I like to do better? Of course. But, you know, if we deliver in February what we are planning to deliver, it's not a small volume," said Soriot. "We are planning to deliver millions of doses to Europe, it is not small."
Belgian authorities conducted an "inspection" of AstraZeneca's production facility in the country this week.
The goal of the inspection, which was requested by the European Commission, was "to ensure that the delay in the delivery of the vaccines is indeed due to a production problem at the Belgian site," said a spokesperson for Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke.
AstraZeneca says it has built more than a dozen regional supply chains to produce its vaccine, collaborating with over 20 partners in more than 15 countries.
https://zenodo.org/record/4483048#.YBZSq-gzbDc
https://zenodo.org/record/4483050#.YBZSrugzbDc
https://zenodo.org/record/4483052#.YBZSrugzbDc
https://zenodo.org/record/4483062#.YBZU0-gzbDc
https://zenodo.org/record/4483064#.YBZU1ugzbDc
"Each supply chain was developed with input and investment from specific countries or international organizations based on the supply agreements, including our agreement with the European Commission," it said.
The European Union suggested on Wednesday that doses produced at AstraZeneca's plants in the United Kingdom should be used to fulfill its order. AstraZeneca says this can only happen once UK supplies have been delivered.
"As soon as we have reached a sufficient number of vaccinations in the UK, we will be able to use that site to help Europe as well," said Soriot.
The US has administered nearly 30M doses of Covid-19 vaccine
A healthcare worker administers a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Nassau Community College in Garden City, New York, on January 30. Johnny Milano/Bloomberg/Getty Images
The US has administered more than 29.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC reported that 29,577,902 doses have been administered -- about 59% of the 49,932,850 doses distributed.
That means 24 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and about 5.25 million people have been fully vaccinated, according to CDC data.
States have 72 hours to report vaccine data, so data published by the CDC may be delayed.
Australia reopens travel bubble for people traveling from New Zealand
Australia will once again allow quarantine-free travel for visitors from New Zealand on Sunday afternoon, Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt said in a news release.
"In making this recommendation, the Acting Chief Medical Officer noted there have been no further confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the community in New Zealand since the initial three cases originated from transmission within hotel quarantine," the release read.
"Green zone flights" will start on Sunday 2 p.m. local time, the release added.
The Australian government previously suspended quarantine-free travel for New Zealanders arriving in Australia on January 25, after a South African variant of Covid-19 was detected in a woman after 14 days of quarantine in New Zealand.
"The Acting CMO notes flights from New Zealand are sufficiently low risk given New Zealand’s strong public health response to Covid-19," the release said. Out of caution, pre and post-flight screening will be implemented, and people traveling to Australia must have been in New Zealand for 14 days prior to leaving.
The one-way travel bubble is only for people traveling from New Zealand to Australia. New Zealand still enforces a 14-day quarantine for foreign travelers.
47 min ago
US records more than 136,000 new cases on Saturday
The United States reported 136,252 new Covid-19 cases and 2,640 additional related deaths on Saturday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
That raises the national total to at least 26,069,046 cases and 439,439 deaths since the pandemic began.
The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other U.S. territories, as well as repatriated cases.
At least 49,932,850 vaccine doses have been distributed so far, and at least 29,577,902 doses of vaccine have been administered, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
See CNN's live tracker of cases here.
59 min ago
US hospitalizations fall below 100,000 for the first time in nearly two months
From CNN’s Amanda Watts and Hollie Silverman
For the first time in nearly two months, current Covid-19 hospitalizations in the United States have fallen below 100,000, according to data from The Covid Tracking Project.
On Saturday, the US reported 97,561 Covid-19 hospitalizations, the data shows.
Before then, the last time the US had fewer than 100,000 current hospitalizations was December 1, 2020 -- 60 days ago.
On December 1, the United States had a 7-day average of roughly 163,000 new cases and 1,540 reported deaths per day, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Right now, the US has roughly the same new case average, but sees more than double the average daily deaths, with over 3,000 a day.
Hospitalizations have been dropping consistently since the start of the year, according to CTP. This past week was the first week since November 5 that no state has reached a new record high for current hospitalizations, according to CTP.
1 hr 41 min ago
Maryland reports case of Covid-19 South African variant
From CNN’s Chuck Johnston
Maryland state health officials have confirmed a case of a more contagious coronavirus strain first identified in South Africa, according to a press release from Gov. Larry Hogan’s office.
The announcement comes after South Carolina identified the first known case of the Covid-19 variant in the US earlier this week.
The Maryland case “involves an adult living in the Baltimore metro region," Hogan's office said.
"The individual has not traveled internationally, making community transmission likely. Comprehensive contact tracing efforts are underway to ensure that potential contacts are quickly identified, quarantined and tested,” Hogan’s office added in its statement.
WHO team goes to wholesale market in Wuhan during investigation of Covid-19 origin
From CNN's Sandi Sidhu in Hong Kong
A team of World Health Organization (WHO) investigators examining the origins of the coronavirus pandemic visited the Baishazhou Wholesale Market in Wuhan on Sunday, said Dr. Hung Nguyen-Viet, a member of the group.
The team of 13 WHO experts were released from their 14-day quarantine on Thursday and have begun their investigations into the virus origins. The team visited the cold storage area of the market Sunday, and talked with market management about how to treat and test imported food, said Nguyen-Viet.
"In the afternoon we will visit Huanan Seafood Market," he told CNN. "I hope we will talk with market management officials and ask questions about (the outbreak's) history. We are keenly interested to go there as this is likely where the first linked cases emerged. We know there were more varieties of food there."
https://www.guest-articles.com/news/pakistan-battles-tsunami-of-covid-19-patients-with-few-vaccines-in-sight-31-01-2021
https://www.guest-articles.com/news/israels-health-data-suggests-pfizer-and-moderna-vaccines-may-be-more-effective-than-we-thought-31-01-2021
https://www.guest-articles.com/news/the-us-has-administered-nearly-30m-doses-of-covid-19-vaccine-31-01-2021
https://www.guest-articles.com/news/europe-has-a-vaccine-shortage-31-01-2021
https://gumroad.com/luddome
https://muckrack.com/ajoshua-shaffne/bio
The investigation comes a year after the Chinese city of Wuhan went into lockdown from the pandemic -- but some experts have expressed skepticism over just how much the team will be able to uncover.
An earlier report, published in February 2020 by a WHO team in China, found that "key knowledge gaps remain" about the virus. The report endorsed previous findings that the virus appeared to have originated in animals, with the likely first outbreak at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan.