EU health official blasts slow vaccine delivery, now consulting with Canada

The Trudeau government is being urged to follow the tough talk of Europe’s health minister, who on Jan. 27 accused a vaccine company of not living up to its moral and legal obligations because of delivery delays.

Vaccine maker AstraZeneca was the recipient of the scathing message from Stella Kyriakides, European commissioner for health and food safety, during a briefing in Brussels. The company has said there will be a significant shortfall in the 100 million doses of its vaccine the European Union was expecting this winter.

“Not being able to ensure manufacturing capacity is against the letter and the spirit of our agreement. We reject the logic of first-come, first-served. That may work at the neighbourhood butcher’s, but not in contracts, and not in our advance purchase agreements,” said Kyriakides.

Kyriakides also said the EU is in continuous discussions with Canada and its fellow G7 countries, and will not will not block European exports of vaccines to other countries.

“Let me be absolutely clear the European Union is not imposing an export ban on vaccines or restricting the export of vaccines to third countries.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Jan. 27 that he spoke earlier in the day with the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and “was reassured to hear that the transparency measures taken by Europe will not affect Pfizer and Moderna deliveries to Canada.”

Health Canada has yet to approve AstraZeneca’s vaccine because it is waiting for results from a large trial in the United States. If Health Canada approves AstraZeneca’s vaccine for use here, the federal government has tens of millions of doses on order.

But in the meantime, Canada faces a sharp decline in deliveries from Pfizer this month.

Trudeau said he is very confident after recently speaking with the heads of Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca that all promised doses will arrive on schedule.