The World Health Organization has slammed the EU’s announcement of vaccine export controls on vaccines produced within the bloc. The WHO has stated that any such measures risked prolonging the pandemic.
The vice-head of the WHO Mariangela Simao has said that this was a “very worrying trend”. However, previously to this, the WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “vaccine nationalism” could lead to a “protracted recovery”. Whilst speaking at the Davos Agenda he said vaccine hoarding would “keep the pandemic burning and, slow global economic recovery” and be a “catastrophic moral failure” that could widen global inequality.
The European Union is set to introduce export controls on coronavirus vaccines made in the bloc. The European Commission has said: “The protection and safety of our citizens is a priority and the challenges we now face left us with no choice but to act”.
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 worldwide criticism as well as a huge outcry from Dublin and London.
The short-lived EU decision on Friday evening came after the EU’s Commission made public a confidential contract with AstraZeneca. This was done to bolster its argument that the firm has been failing to fulfil its promises to deliver to the bloc. However, the newly publicly available contract stipulates that the pharmaceutical company would commit its “best reasonable efforts” to manufacture and distribute the doses promised.
Current Affairs Correspondent | My name is Oliver Down I am 22, and a staunch brexiteer. I am a Bristolian lad who studied politics in Leicester. I believe in free speech and accurate journalism and I won’t be afraid to give you “the other side” of the story!
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