Coronavirus: WHO criticises EU over vaccine export controls

The World Health Organization (WHO) has criticised the EU's announcement of export controls on vaccines produced within the bloc, saying such measures risked prolonging the pandemic.

The EU introduced the measure amid a row with vaccine manufacturers over delivery shortfalls.

But WHO vice-head Mariangela Simao said it was a "very worrying trend".

Earlier WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said "vaccine nationalism" could lead to a "protracted recovery".

Speaking at the Davos Agenda - a virtual version of the global summit - he said vaccine hoarding would "keep the pandemic burning and... slow global economic recovery" in addition to being a "catastrophic moral failure" that could further widen global inequality.

What is the EU doing?

The European Union is introducing export controls on coronavirus vaccines made in the bloc, amid a row about delivery shortfalls.

The so-called transparency mechanism gives EU countries powers to deny authorisation for vaccine exports if the company making them hasn't honoured existing contracts with the EU.

"The protection and safety of our citizens is a priority and the challenges we now face left us with no choice but to act," the European Commission said.  

The controls will affect some 100 countries worldwide - including the UK, the US, Canada and Australia - but many others, including poorer nations, are exempt.

However the EU has been forced to backtrack on plans to impose restrictions on the export of vaccines across the border on the island of Ireland after outcry from Dublin and London.

The EU insists its controls are a temporary scheme, not an export ban.

Why is this happening now?

The news comes with the EU in a very public dispute with drug-maker AstraZeneca over supplies, and under growing pressure over the slow pace of vaccine distribution.

Earlier on Friday the Commission made public a confidential contract with AstraZeneca, the UK-Swedish company behind the Oxford vaccine, to bolster its argument that the firm has been failing to fulfil its promises to deliver to the bloc.

Under the new rule, vaccine firms will have to seek permission before supplying doses beyond the EU. Its 27 member states will be able to vet those export applications.

Vaccines produced by Pfizer in Belgium are currently being exported to the UK, and the EU insists that some of the AstraZeneca vaccine produced in England is destined under contract for EU citizens.

The EU is also in a supply dispute with Pfizer, which is set to fall short of the contracted vaccine volume for the EU by the end of March. Pfizer says the reason for that is the urgent expansion of its facility in Puurs, Belgium.

AstraZeneca's shortfall to the EU is expected to be about 60% in the first quarter of 2021.

As the export controls were announced, the EU medicines regulator, the EMA, gave authorisation for the AstraZeneca vaccine to be used in over-18s.

Who is exempt from the export controls?

The EU is allowing some 92 exemptions from the export control regime, including: vaccine donations to Covax, the global scheme to help poorer countries; and exports to Switzerland, countries in the western Balkans, Norway and North Africa. Other Mediterranean countries such as Lebanon and Israel are also exempt.

Explaining the export measures, EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides told a news conference they would ensure that all EU citizens had access to vaccines, and that all parties played by the rules.

"This approach is built on trust, transparency and responsibility," she said.

However the WHO's emergencies director Michael Ryan said the disputes between wealthy nations over vaccines were concerning given that health workers and high-risk populations in other parts of the world faced a long wait for any vaccines at all.

"It looks like fighting over the cake, when they don't even have access to the crumbs," he said.