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NewsGSK to manufacture 60m doses of Novavax Covid vaccine in UK (ft.com)

submitted by Dannage8888United Kingdom

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[–]OnOff987Germany 109 points110 points  (66 children)

Can't blame them. The EU has done the same thing for the US with J&J vaccines, which were originally meant to ship to the US for fill and finish, and instead now use domestic fill and finish.

It just adds an extra layer of insecurity to have a supply chain outside your border.

[–]rankling8 4 points5 points  (2 children)

Could you give the source about the EU/US fill and finish? Not to imply I'm doubting you, just want to read on it further.

[–]OnOff987Germany 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I've read it in a German source, but this also touches on the topic:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-eu-johnson-johnson-idUSKBN2B11KY

"EU countries raised questions earlier in the year about J&J’s production network and contract with the EU, which would require it to send vaccines made at its Dutch factory to the United States for bottling before being shipped back to the EU.

A second EU official, also involved in talks with vaccine makers, said the bloc was trying to boost industrial capacity to bottle more shots in the EU, as part of plans to smooth out J&J deliveries."

[–]rankling8 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very appreciated, thanks!

[–]MrOaikiSwedish with European parents 15 points16 points  (1 child)

I want to see those J&J vaccines before I believe the EU managed to secure that deal. So far, the EU has been the worst vaccine buyer in the developed world.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So far, the EU has been the worst vaccine buyer in the developed world.

The EU hasn't done as well as it could have, but I don't think what you said is true.

Canada has been abysmal, for example.

[–]blah-blah-blah12 10 points11 points  (2 children)

Yeah it’s the rational thing for the UK gov to arrange.

Not great though, as the second or third choice, they won’t be as competitive as the original choice, but better to pay a little more & make sure you actually get the end result.

[–]MyFavouriteAxeUnited Kingdom 9 points10 points  (1 child)

The costs are negligible compared with the costs of lockdown and pandemic fiscal support.

[–]blah-blah-blah12 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think we agree.

[–]EldritchCosmos 27 points28 points  (55 children)

It's just a shame that the EU, who made a big show of being against vaccine nationalism in the first place, are now the ones fuelling it. They're now the ones convincing everybody that they need a domestic-only supply.

I guess the world knows what to think next time the EU tries a bit of moral grandstanding over something.

[–]OnOff987Germany 39 points40 points  (8 children)

It was not the EU which wanted that, the EU was perfectly fine with sending it to the US for fill and finish, as long as it was sent back. It was the US which couldn't give a clear answer on whether these vaccines bottled in the US would be allowed to return.

I think the UK feared the same thing here. I honestly do not think the EU would have blocked that, as it was pretty clear that only contract violation would lead to an export block, but better safe than sorry I guess.

The EU is still the most open place for vaccine exports in the world, especially after India now reduced exports even for Covax, which EU specifically avoids to block.

[–]SparkyCorpEurope 18 points19 points  (4 children)

I don't know if, chronologically, recent EU discussions could have fed into it, but I think the UK feared/fears a block of Pfizer jab export.

Pfizer's recent warning to Merkel that it needed UK lipids for 8 months has an expiry date. I would guess Johnson didn't want to put Novavax at potential risk if AZ continued to underperform in the EU.

"The new regulation will go substantially further than the initial export control mechanism imposed by the Commission in January, which allowed EU countries or the Commission to block shipments only of vaccines made by companies that were failing to fulfill their contractual obligations to the EU."

https://www.politico.eu/article/commission-to-table-tougher-vaccine-export-rules/

[–]Amazing_Examination6Defender of the Free World 🇩🇪🇨🇭 10 points11 points  (3 children)

Pfizer's recent warning to Merkel that it needed UK lipids for 8 months

You are mixing different things here. Pfizer has neither warned

  1. Merkel specifically nor (edit: recently nor)
  2. that it needed UK lipids nor
  3. mentioned 8 months

1 was Sierk Pötting from Biontech (not Pfizer) end of January about lipids, but no mention of UK (2), The 8 months were not mentioned by Pfizer, but EU manufacturers in the context of long-term worldwide supply.

Pfizer "warned" both the UK and the EU not to endanger worldwide supply chains, nothing specifically about lipids.

[–]SparkyCorpEurope 3 points4 points  (2 children)

Thank you for your reply. The "UK and Pfizer" part comes from the first paragraph of the following story. That story also does indeed later link the 8 months to BioNTek.

Do you have better links that show the manufacturers warning about 8 months we're not including Pfizer?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Coronavirus/comments/m8ufla/exclusive_pfizer_warns_eu_to_back_down_on_vaccine/

[–]Amazing_Examination6Defender of the Free World 🇩🇪🇨🇭 0 points1 point  (1 child)

The "UK and Pfizer" part comes from the first paragraph of the following story.

Yes, that's why it's not credible. I've commented on that "story" before. Three out of four components come from the US:

Three of the parts are made by Croda's offshoot, Avanti, in Alabama in the USA, while one [added by me: most probably cholesterol] is made in England.

This is where the "8 months" come from: Statement by Merck, not Pfizer (emphasis mine):

Merck and BioNTech are further expanding their strategic partnership. Merck, in close collaboration with BioNTech, will significantly accelerate the supply of urgently needed lipids and increase the amount of lipid delivery towards the end of 2021. The lipids will be used for the production of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine (BNT162b2).

[...]

In the past weeks, Merck has been working hard to expand its already very high lipid production capacity. This required the further development of production technologies and the implementation of new, highly complex process steps. BioNTech and Merck are currently defining exact requirements and are aiming for a timely execution of their joint efforts.

Merck is a global leader in lipids. The company has extensive expertise in providing custom lipids and other critical components such as synthetic cholesterol for lipid nanoparticle formulations. Merck is active across multiple steps of the process flow and collaborates with many companies using lipid-based technologies to address Covid-19 vaccines and treatment.

[–]SparkyCorpEurope 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks very much for this extra info.

[–]Jonstiniho89United Kingdom 3 points4 points  (2 children)

I think the trust has been lost unfortunately so producing them domestically is the right move for all countries

[–]I_run_viennaAustria 0 points1 point  (1 child)

This is not true at all. There will be a few countries that can produce the vaccines and many who rely on partners to that for them.

I think that we concentrate too much on EU vs GB/US to see that right now.

[–]Jonstiniho89United Kingdom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes you’re right, but if you have the capacity to produce them domestically it’s probably worth doing so based on recent events

[–]C6H12O7Languedoc-Roussillon (France) 1 point2 points  (32 children)

The EU wants reciprocity, how is that vaccine nationalism? Besides, the EU has exported half its stock of vaccines (tens of millions), including to the US and UK, when the US and UK exported zero until last week.

Even Russia and China can get the moral high ground over the anglos here.

[–]Fargrad 32 points33 points  (30 children)

Besides, the EU has exported half its stock of vaccines (tens of millions), including to the US and UK

It's stock? Just because the vaccines are made in the EU doesn't mean they belong to the EU. That's the nationalism the other poster was talking about.

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    [–]SparkyCorpEurope 18 points19 points  (0 children)

    the EU has exported half its stock of vaccines (tens of millions)

    They didn't belong to the EU, but anyway. The reason why, rightly, every Member State can say they've invested in vacccine production is through EU funding from the Emergency Support Instrument(1). That comes from the Multiannual Financial Framework(2) that the UK participated in upto and including 2020(2).

    So the UK has helped produce EU domestic and export doses. Whilst just the 2020 payment relates to BREXIT settlement, we could have joined the EU Vaccine Scheme instead of investing in AZ in the UK. That would have slowed down EU vaccination rates even more so I'm glad for us both we did not.

    https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/coronavirus-response/public-health/coronavirus-vaccines-strategy_en

    https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-and-eu-clash-over-british-share-of-covid-fund/

    [–][deleted] -4 points-3 points  (5 children)

    The EUs exported as many vaccines as have being used for domestic consumption. The UK has exported none. Its nonsense to say the EU is the main culprit of vaccine nationalism as a result.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

    Remind me who has put in place legislation to give the ability to ban exports?

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      [–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

      Because the US had previously already blocked shipments of various medical supplies and materials. And shipping vaccines for fill and finish to the US is nonsense.

      I don't know what the fuss is all about in this thread. The EU hasn't even ordered this vaccine yet. Why would they block exports when they've exported 77 million doses and only blocked 250.000 so far.

      [–]KvalitetstidEnsamPå lang slik er alt midlertidig 55 points56 points  (15 children)

      British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to support the manufacturing of up to 60m doses of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by US rival Novavax in an agreement set to boost UK production of coronavirus jabs

      The vaccine has yet to receive the green light from UK regulators, but is expected to be submitted for approval over the next three months after showing strong efficacy in a recent late-stage trial, including against the more transmissible B.1.1.7 variant circulating in the UK.

      Under an agreement in principle with Novavax and the UK government’s Vaccines Taskforce, GSK will “fill and finish” 60m doses of the vaccine, by preparing the vials and packaging the finished doses for distribution, the company said.

      Matt Hancock, health secretary, said: “We’ve all seen just how important onshore vaccine manufacturing capabilities are, and this fantastic deal will ensure more of these vital products can be produced here in the UK.”

      The UK government’s vaccine rollout has been among the most successful in the world, with more than 30m Britons having received a first dose. However, it hit a setback earlier this month when it emerged that supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine would be far lower in April than expected, in part due to delays in securing additional doses from the Serum Institute in India.

      GSK said the work would be carried out at its Barnard Castle facility in the north-east of England “beginning as early as May 2021, with a rapid technology transfer between the two companies beginning immediately”.

      The protein antigen component of the vaccine is already being made in the same part of the country by Novavax’s manufacturing partner, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, at its site in Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees.

      Roger Connor, head of vaccines for GSK, said the company was “delighted” to support Novavax and the UK Vaccines Taskforce.

      GSK had ensured it could deliver the doses without affecting its supply of other medicines and vaccines “and without disruption to the other Covid-19 collaborations GSK is engaged in globally”, Connor added.

      Rick Crowley, executive vice-president and chief operations officer for Novavax said the partnership with GSK “continues the expansion of our global supply network, which we expect to increase overall production capacity and, if approved by regulatory agencies, support access to a potentially important new vaccine against Covid-19.”

      Boris Johnson, UK prime minister, said he was “delighted by GSK’s investment, which shows the strength of UK manufacturing, and will further boost our vaccine rollout”. The Vaccines Taskforce had worked “hand in glove with business to successfully deliver vaccines to the whole of the UK,” he said, adding that the government remained on track to offer a first jab to all over-50s by April 15 and all adults by the end of July.

      [–]oscarandjoA subject of Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 84 points85 points  (3 children)

      GSK said the work would be carried out at its Barnard Castle facility

      Yet another glitch in the simulation...

      [–]StuwebRaucous AUKUS 22 points23 points  (1 child)

      We truly have gone full circle.

      [–]rugbyj 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      • Cummings actually on a mission from HMSS
      • Foiled terrorist subplot at facility
      • Killed main villain who was restarting Goldeneye Programme
      • Hence why Goldeneye Satellite dish was destroyed 2020
      • "Testing My Eyesight" was a Bond-esque quip in reference

      [–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

      What even is this timeline haha.

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        [–]gt94sss2 203 points204 points  (60 children)

        The 'fill and finish' was previously going to be done in Germany.

        Given the EU's recent actions it's not a suprise that the UK government acted to involve GSK.

        Novavax is one of 4 vaccines which will be manufactured in the UK due to the support of the British Government.

        [–]TMCThomasThe Netherlands 23 points24 points  (6 children)

        Do you have a source on the fill and finish in germany?

        [–]gt94sss2 117 points118 points  (5 children)

        Do you have a source on the fill and finish in germany?

        https://www.chemanager-online.com/en/news/baxter-supply-novavax-covid-vaccine-germany

        When the green light comes, the US-headquartered CMO is poised to handle fill-finish operations for the European and UK markets from its plant at Halle in eastern Germany as part of a worldwide manufacturing network.

        [–]TMCThomasThe Netherlands 21 points22 points  (0 children)

        Thanks

        [–]oalfonso 0 points1 point  (3 children)

        And will the german plant still work? Or all the work will be shifted to UK?

        [–]gt94sss2 6 points7 points  (2 children)

        Novavax has not yet signed a deal with the EU but I assume the factory would be used then or perhaps in the deal they have recently signed with Poland.

        [–]oalfonso 1 point2 points  (1 child)

        Thanks so the UK deal doesn't matter too much to the EU then.

        [–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

        Why would that matter this deal is purely in the the interests of British citizens.

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          [–]papyjako89 66 points67 points  (10 children)

          Why does every single thread about the Covid vaccine needs to be such a god damn shit show...

          [–]Hot_Ad_528 44 points45 points  (1 child)

          Reflects the unfortunate state of affairs between UK and EU political leaders.

          [–]Surface_DetailUnited Kingdom 32 points33 points  (0 children)

          And the emotionally charged nature of the subject. Both sides of the argument are hurting and it's not far from a zero sum game; there are limited supplies and everyone just wants this absolute fuckery of a pandemic to be over.

          [–]MrOaikiSwedish with European parents 48 points49 points  (7 children)

          Because a lot of pro-EU commentators in here have a hard time swallowing the fact that the EU screwed up when it comes to vaccine production and distribution.

          [–]khisin 52 points53 points  (5 children)

          The comment section always turns in to a pissing contest it’s super cringe, I’m from the uk so super happy the vaccine roll out is going well but I’m also happy to find out the big eu factory’s are about to start pushing out more vaccines for the eu. We exited the union it doesn’t mean that most of us level headed people don’t want the best for your vaccine roll out + I want to holiday in the sun at some point in the next 2 year

          [–]TaoiseachTrump 29 points30 points  (0 children)

          Yeah. Exactly. I'm very happy to see that the UK rollout has gone so well. So sick of the bullshit in these threads.

          [–]Jacc3Sweden 15 points16 points  (1 child)

          Word. Hopefully there will be less conflict once the vaccines start coming in great numbers.

          Good luck to you guys. We're in this pandemic together, and hopefully we'll end it together as well.

          [–]HumpfingerThe Netherlands 2 points3 points  (0 children)

          This is the way.

          [–]MightyH20 0 points1 point  (0 children)

          If you have seen the recent analysis of posters r/Europe then this wouldn't be a surprise.

          Basically r/badunitedkingdom (anti-EU sub) is very active here.

          [–]JN324United Kingdom 43 points44 points  (2 children)

          I know we have done plenty wrong throughout the whole Brexit saga, but can anyone honestly blame us regarding the current debacle?

          EU states started off by looting PPE from one another like pirates, then the EU failed to order or approve any vaccines until months after the UK, putting the EU months behind. The EU did its whole faux outrage charade and pretended AZ were giving us preferential treatment, they weren’t, the EU suffered the same supply hiccups we did, and agreed to them with the “best efforts” clause in their contrast, like we did, they just had it far later, due to the bureaucracy.

          EU leaders then claimed the AZ jab didn’t work for over 65’s, and caused excess blood clots, it had the same efficacy for over 65’s, and the same rate of blood clots as the non vaccinated population, their own regulator, the WHO, and the recent American study, told them that, they didn’t care.

          These lies have managed to scare a majority away from the AZ vaccine in France, Germany, Italy, Spain etc, according to the polling. It also slowed the EU rollout as the major nations postponed AZ use, despite knowing it was safe. To further compound it, no EU states postponed the Pfizer jab, a jab which according to the available studies, had a fractionally higher prevalence of blood clots than AZ, which was the lie it was suspended under, no consistency.

          After this things got extra petty, the EU straight up lied and said the UK had introduced a vaccine export ban, and therefore they were going to as well, we hadn’t, they then pivoted and pretended it was done because our rollout is ahead of their rollout...so why did they ban Australia’s doses?

          The EU has exported 10m doses to the UK in total, even if the UK had never received a single dose from its own company, from the EU, and all of those doses went in EU citizen arms, the EU rollout would only be 2.2% further ahead, 17.65 per 100 instead of 15.45, the US and UK have done triple this, vaccine exports to us had zero to do with the EU’s pathetic rollout.

          [–]bezzleford 13 points14 points  (0 children)

          ..but..but... UK = BAD

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            [–]DEADB33FEurope 99 points100 points  (208 children)

            EU: DIBS!
            UK: I called it first
            EU: No you didn't
            UK: Did too
            EU: Didn't
            UK: Did
            *ad nauseum*

            ...meanwhile UK is busy building new vaccine production facilities while the commission squabbles and EU countries refuse to invest in vaccine manufacture.

            [–]LivingLegend69 23 points24 points  (22 children)

            UK is busy building new vaccine production facilities

            Uhm EU production of vaccines will continue to ramp up significantly this year as well. Sanofi using its plants to manufacture the Biontech vaccine from July onwards will be a massive boost for instance.

            [–]PM_ME_HIGH_HEELS 20 points21 points  (18 children)

            That biontech factory in Marburg has a yearly output of 1 billion doses when it's running at full capacity. That's like more in a week than what the UK has produced total so far.

            [–][deleted] 14 points15 points  (14 children)

            So why are you whining about the UK not sending any doses to the EU?

            [–]WestGlumEscaped Prisoner 8 points9 points  (3 children)

            Well, most of those are probably being exported. German taxpayers have paid to line the pockets of a private company exporting for-profit vaccines. I don't get how that isn't a scandal.

            [–]sumduud14United Kingdom 1 point2 points  (2 children)

            I see your point, but it's also possibly the profit motive that motivated Pfizer and BioNTech to produce in such large quantities and invest as much as they have in production. The more they produce, the more they sell, the more they personally benefit.

            Not-for-profit vaccines like AZ have done much worse, maybe there is a causal relationship there.

            I can't say for certain though.

            [–]PM_ME_HIGH_HEELS 6 points7 points  (0 children)

            Well germany paid for the factories of BionTech. They gave quite a lot in funding for production.

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              [–]MightyH20 2 points3 points  (9 children)

              Because EU invested taxpayer money into UK plants and receives nothing in return.

              Sounds to me UK uses EU money for vaccine production. "why don't you stop whining"

              The EU is investing €336m (£297m) in AstraZeneca in return for 400m doses of its vaccine, the first 100m of which had been expected before April.

              Kyriakides said that under its contract with AstraZeneca, four European plants were named as suppliers and two of those were based in the UK, and she expected them to work for EU citizens.

              https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/27/eu-covid-vaccine-row-astrazeneca-european-commission

              [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (7 children)

              The EU is investing €336m (£297m) in AstraZeneca in return for 400m doses of its vaccine

              If they're getting 400m doses in return that suggests they were buying doses, not investing in the company. When the UK invested in it it paid for the factories building with the expectation that there may not be a single usable dose that came out of them.

              [–]AlcogelDenmark 3 points4 points  (2 children)

              No, it's clearly laid out in the contract. 336 million was paid up front to AstraZeneca as part of the purchase agreement, not for the manufacture of vaccine, but in order to scale up and prepare factories for mass production. The actual production of doses is paid for separately at the point of delivery.

              [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

              Exactly, it was done as part of the purchase agreement. The UK's investment wasn't.

              [–]MightyH20 2 points3 points  (3 children)

              Well it is clearly in the quote that investing means that EU receives 100mio vaccines in return before April.

              Reality is. AZ delivered 0 vaccines from UK plants.

              [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

              So you didn't get what you ordered, quelle surprise. Did you know that there was > 90% shortfall in the amount the UK got in 2020 over what was supposed to be delivered? No you probably don't because unlike the EU the UK government didn't get all Facebook about it. The EU was lucky, it got 30% of what it was expecting for its first delivery.

              [–]MightyH20 3 points4 points  (1 child)

              Oef. Your riddance is showing hard though.

              The whataboutism doesn't work either. Comparing a shortfall of UK to 0 received vaccines is above mental gymnastics.

              Speaking of the devil:

              https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-eu-astrazeneca-idUSKBN2BM1PS?taid=606327e69e71f30001ce181b&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

              AstraZeneca has told the European Union that it has no legal obligations to Britain or other buyers that would prevent the full supply of COVID-19 doses under its contract with the EU

              Under the EU contract, AstraZeneca committed to supplying vaccines produced in four European factories, two of which are in Britain: Oxford Biomedica and Cobra Biologics.

              Britain has so far exported no AstraZeneca vaccines to the EU, despite EU calls for access to doses produced there.

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                [–]DanielMadeMistakes 33 points34 points  (70 children)

                The EU has invested in a plethora of vaccine manufacturing.

                [–]DEADB33FEurope 104 points105 points  (56 children)

                Total per capita investment has been around one tenth of the UK's.

                So yeah technically correct, but compared to the EU's population probably nowhere near enough. EU leaders have known this is the case for months yet refuse to invest more.

                [–]DanielMadeMistakes 29 points30 points  (19 children)

                Is this EU or EU+Individual nations investments?

                If the investment is so low how come production is on the same level as of in the United States? Sounds like efficiency.

                [–]IaAmAnAntelope 53 points54 points  (9 children)

                The EU had a ton of production going into Covid. Historically the EU and India have exported vaccines all over the world.

                [–]unlinkeds 24 points25 points  (0 children)

                "look at us, we produced the vaccines without spending much of our own money"

                *exports large chunk of vaccines to other countries*

                [–]Gig4t3ch 10 points11 points  (0 children)

                If the investment is so low how come production is on the same level as of in the United States?

                Because people ordered vaccines from the companies and they decided to have their global production in the EU.

                [–]bonobo1United Kingdom 5 points6 points  (0 children)

                Everyone who has ordered vaccines to be manufactured in the EU has invested in that production. There were large flows of money coming into EU factories from abroad long before the EU itself (after wrestling control) started to get its shit in order. I love the EU, but this is the reality in this case.

                [–]KvotheM 9 points10 points  (5 children)

                I think only Germany has significantly invested in domestic manufacturing. The EU commission signed contracts which states the EU orders have to be fulfilled entirely before other contracts with EU countries can be delivered. Basically undermining any incentive for countries to invest in manufacturing.

                [–]ThePickleClapperUnited Kingdom 11 points12 points  (8 children)

                I'm not disagreeing but you got any sources. Would be nice to send round

                [–]DEADB33FEurope 36 points37 points  (0 children)

                FT had the number at 7x the amount

                ...That was back in Jan though and UK has been continually pouring more into building out & securing alternate vaccine sources since then (Novavax, Valneva, Janssen, etc). All on the basis that some investments will likely be a bust or will underperform but hopefully others won't.

                Can't remember where I saw the more recent 10x figure, will have a proper look tomorrow.

                [–]AlcogelDenmark 5 points6 points  (17 children)

                The EU members are too reluctant to invest on average, it's true, but those numbers still aren't 1:1 comparable. Keep in mind that the EU had plenty of production facilities already established. That investment needs to also be accounted for. Also certain EU countries invested a lot of money into this while others didn't, and I'm really unsure it those numbers that are reported when comparing US/UK/EU investment counts all the various EU members' individual contributions, or if it only counts investment made under the EU umbrella.

                [–]DEADB33FEurope 33 points34 points  (16 children)

                Keep in mind that the EU had plenty of production facilities already established.

                I think that's where a lot of the EU's issues stem from though.

                When ordering from a facility that only exists because of direct public investment it's far easier to make condition of that investment that you get first refusal on the vaccines that facility produces. And nobody should make issue of this as if it wasn't for that investment there would be zero being produced there.

                When ordering from an existing facility you're just another customer and will be receiving your orders along with every other country who has ordered from that manufacturer.

                I think the EU failed to realise that (or rather they realised it too late). They seemed to think that because the existing facilities were in the EU that they'd get priority.

                Also certain EU countries invested a lot of money into this while others didn't

                Totally. For instance Germany hasn't invested at close to the UK's level, but compared to most EU countries it's done a fantastic job of pushing things forward.

                If only the EU would encourage other countries to do likewise rather than push this bizarre narrative that by brow beating vaccine manufacturers and disparaging the efforts made by other countries they will be able to sort out the mess they're in.

                [–]AlcogelDenmark -2 points-1 points  (9 children)

                But the EU isn’t just another customer. It put 336 million€ down to AZ last summer, in order to expand capacity in the EU and UK. This was a number that AZ agreed would be adequate for the task.

                The reason the EU didn’t put exclusivity in the contracts is simply that it didn’t think it would be necessary, because it assumed others would also have an interest in cooperation on vaccines. Call it naive. Call it a hard bought lesson. But it’s not a mistake in the sense that the EU assumed it would have priority, because I’ve seen nothing indicating that was the expectation. It just assumed everyone else would received their fair shares too.

                AZ deserves to be put in their place though. The EU-AZ contract has no mention of priority for other contracts, so it is unreasonable to expect the EU to be happy with taking a disproportionally small share of the vaccine production.

                And I really don’t see what’s fundamentally different about the EU and UK approaches to keeping AZ honest. When the EU started wondering why AZ wasn’t supplying vaccines from the British plants, AZ replied that the UK was using a contractual clause that prevented export. Seems only fair that the EU can apply the same pressure on this side. The EU’s contract says nothing about priority to other customers, so there is no valid reason for AZ to withhold deliveries.

                You don’t need a right to first refusal when your contract states no one else has priority, and you’re fine with sharing output proportionally.

                It only starts getting bizarre when the EU is expected to then continue taking disproportionally low amounts, because it was ok with sharing evenly to begin with.

                [–]Surface_DetailUnited Kingdom 4 points5 points  (8 children)

                They can, of course, do the same thing the UK did, at the point of signing the contract.

                Other countries drew up their vaccination plans based on the knowledge that a contract with a company manufacturing from the EU would be reliable.

                Fortunately, the only country the EU has punished for this so far has been Australia who aren't seeing the case-loads where the impact of the vaccine seizures cost many (if any) lives. Now they are producing their own AZ vaccines internally.

                [–]AlcogelDenmark 6 points7 points  (7 children)

                And the EU might have altered it’s plans too, if it had known AstraZeneca was planning to give the UK priority for three of the four plants in the EU-AZ contract, without that fact being mentioned by AZ?

                You’re blaming the EU for AstraZeneca being unreliable. Companies that are conducting themselves properly have no problem servicing their customers from the EU. The EU also has a valid contract for those 250.000 doses. It’s no one’s fault but AZ’s that they oversold their capacity massively, and then assumed that they could get away with putting the bloc where one of their biggest factories is located on a much lower priority, than it’s pre-paid order justifies.

                It’s wild how many redditors these days are so eager to defend the dubious business practices of a multinational corporation, just because it’s headquartered in the UK and happens to hold the marketing license for the Oxford vaccine that brits are (rightly) proud of.

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                  [–]Lerdroth 13 points14 points  (12 children)

                  Technically correct, the discussion is more to how much they've invested and into what though. In comparison to a single entity (UK) it seems lackluster.

                  [–]PM_ME_HIGH_HEELS -4 points-3 points  (11 children)

                  How is it lackluster ? Germany alone already invested a billion into CureVec, BioNTech and another company.

                  [–]Lerdroth 15 points16 points  (0 children)

                  I've seen little to no criticism of Germany, they seemed to try and pull the rest of the EU into investing into BioNTech before others did along with initial investments. How it worked out as is, the EU was late to the table to deal with them, as was similar to other vaccine deals.

                  The EU deserves the criticism in heaps. If they'd listed to Germany they'd be having a much better time right now.

                  [–]WestGlumEscaped Prisoner 11 points12 points  (9 children)

                  UK spending on Covid vaccines hits nearly £12bn, watchdog says (December 2020)

                  [–]PM_ME_HIGH_HEELS 1 point2 points  (8 children)

                  That UK number includes the payments for vaccine doses. The German number is strictly just what they paid for the development inside germany. Germany obviously paid a lot for the doses itself too, put more money into the Covax fund for doses for poor countries. Also obviously contributed to the pool that the EU spent on vaccines.

                  So don't act like the UK massively outspent others.

                  [–]WestGlumEscaped Prisoner 17 points18 points  (3 children)

                  FT also has:

                  In total, the UK and US have each spent about seven times more upfront, per capita, on vaccine development, procurement and production than the European bloc, according to data gathered by Airfinity, a London-based life sciences analytics company.

                  https://www.ft.com/content/c9bbc753-97fb-493a-bbb6-dd97a7c4b807

                  [–]DanielMadeMistakes 0 points1 point  (2 children)

                  Airfinity which had 0 sources.

                  EU being the institution and failing to mention all the individual funding by EU countries.

                  [–]Surface_DetailUnited Kingdom 4 points5 points  (1 child)

                  It's the Financial Times, man. I trust them to do their research more than I trust a random redditor.

                  [–]thecraftybee1981 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                  Germany has been an incredible supporter of COVAX with a donation of nearly $1.1b to it, compared to the UK's $735m. The EU ($490m) as an organisation and every other individual country bar Germany just about beats Britain's contribution. The EU donation also includes a significan t chunk from Britain as I think the EU 7 year budget period ends 2021 - but I might be wrong on that.

                  12 EU countries haven't donated anything - Monaco has sent more. Norway, a small country of just over 5m people, has spent more supporting COVAX than any EU country apart from Germany. So has Saudi Arabia, Japan (understandably), Canada, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The guy who founded Netflix has spent more than all but 4 or 5 EU governments. Tik Tok has donated double Ireland's contribution.

                  Germany has been incredibly generous. The rest of the EU not so much.

                  The vaccines for COVAX may be made in the EU (but mostly are being made in India and Argentina), but they're predominately being paid for by other rich countries.

                  [–]IaAmAnAntelope 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                  Even if Germany spend a fortune on vaccine doses, it wouldn’t make much of a dent in the UK spending figure being quoted about. Say Germany bought 500 million doses for itself at $20 each - it’s still only 1bn more.

                  Germany gave a similar amount per capita as the UK did to Covax, so I doubt that’s driving the difference either.

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                    [–]strassgaten 3 points4 points  (12 children)

                    ...meanwhile UK is busy building new vaccine production facilities while the commission squabbles and EU countries refuse to invest in vaccine manufacture.

                    You mean like the ones in Marburg that will just start industrial scale production in the coming days?

                    [–]SparkyCorpEurope 11 points12 points  (0 children)

                    You mean like the ones in Marburg that will just start industrial scale production in the coming days?

                    This is good news and I hope it helps the continent a lot. It is a 2020-based plan though so it doesn't seem to rebut what DEADB33F wrote about the 2021 squabbling.

                    https://www.biopharma-reporter.com/Article/2021/02/10/BioNTech-starts-production-at-Marburg-COVID-19-vaccine-site

                    [–]DanielMadeMistakes 13 points14 points  (10 children)

                    It's going to produce more in one week than the entire UK has since the very start. But the EU hasn't put any money into investment apparently.

                    [–]TMCThomasThe Netherlands 14 points15 points  (9 children)

                    Really? Do you have a source on that?

                    [–]DanielMadeMistakes -1 points0 points  (4 children)

                    "However, it is public knowledge that as of 23 March the UK had put around 30 million jabs in arms. It is also publicly stated that about 13 million of these are Pfizer jabs, all of which are imported from the EU.

                    Alongside this, the UK has received 5 million from the Serum Institute in India, and is strongly suspected to have received non-trivial amounts of the Astrazeneca vaccine from the Halix plant in the Netherlands, a lack of information about this being one of the sore points in the UK-EU debate. Putting these numbers together, and given that the UK has a policy of keeping only a minimum of vaccines in reserve, it seems that the UK has probably produced slightly less than half of its total, somewhere between 10 and 15 million jabs, or enough to provide somewhere around 20% of its 68 million population with a first vaccination"

                    https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2021/03/25/has-the-uk-really-outperformed-the-eu-on-covid-19-vaccinations/

                    In terms of Marburg:

                    "This means the first doses from the facility are set to be distributed in April; with 250 million doses expected to come from the facility in the first half of 2021"

                    250 million/12 weeks=20.8m a week on average from April to the end of June.

                    UK since ~August=10-15m

                    [–]Darkone539 5 points6 points  (1 child)

                    and is strongly suspected to have received non-trivial amounts of the Astrazeneca vaccine from the Halix plant in the Netherlands,

                    That;s because the EU said as much with no evidence. In 2021, the UK has received no AZ doses form the EU by their own numbers, but their false narrative was already sold.

                    [–]DanielMadeMistakes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                    That is a quote from the London School of Economics, so you can take it up with them if you'd like. The numbers however don't lie in terms of the overall conclusion.

                    [–]trolls_brigadeEuropean Union 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                    very good point, but loose the meme at the end, it's demeaning

                    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                    A company takes over an existing facility and expands it using (probably) private money and people go ape shit. Wow.

                    [–]foff2020 8 points9 points  (1 child)

                    I know people will say that this is another example that supports Brexit, but for me it's very plausible that as one of the leading nations in the EU, the UK would've contributed a lot to a better rollout in the block.

                    [–]WestGlumEscaped Prisoner 13 points14 points  (0 children)

                    ...at the expense of itself. As demonstrated by the IVA sorting out a deal with AZ, then the EU took over, 2-3 months pass, and then the EU signs the deal with 'no material differences' from the one the IVA negotiated.

                    All the while being prohibited from negotiating directly with the companies while the EU take a leisurely stroll through the process.

                    [–]fundohun11 3 points4 points  (3 children)

                    I am wondering how relevant these later vaccines like Novavax and Curevac will be (at least for industrial countries). If I look at the projected deliveries for Germany until the end of June, it's enough to vaccinate 75 % of all adults (with both doses!). And between July and September it seems like there is enough vaccine to vaccinate the whole country over. It should be the same for all EU countries since they get distributed proportionally. These are numbers for the EU, which obviously had a less than ideal vaccine roll out. So, the UK, US and Israel will be done even earlier. I am not sure what Novavax or Curevac will bring to the table that Biontech or Moderna don't already offer. I guess they don't have to be refrigerated as much, but is this really that relevant for countries like Germany? Germany wants to start distributing Biontech through general physicians, so the cooling doesn't seem to be that much of a hurdle.

                    [–]CasualviewEngland 9 points10 points  (1 child)

                    I think COVID is with us for a long long time so these new vaccines will be useful as booster shots or vaccinating new variants.

                    [–]GurademUnited Kingdom 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                    Not very important in the near term but very in the long term. Covid will never go away now it will have to be handled like the flu where you get yearly shots.

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