Australia asks European Union to desist from blocking export of COVID-19 vaccines

Amid the EU-Oz tussle, nearly 4 million doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine have reached Nigeria. Pic/AFP

Australia is seeking assurances from the European Union's executive arm that future shipments of vaccines will not be blocked, after Italy banned a large export of the AstraZeneca coronavirus shots.

The shipment to Australia of more than a quarter-million doses was blocked from leaving the 27-nation bloc, the first use of an export control system instituted by the EU to make sure big pharma companies respect their EU contracts. The ban was requested by Italian authorities and approved by the EU in a move that frustrated the Australian government.

"The world is in uncharted territory at present, it's unsurprising that some countries would tear up the rule book," finance minister Simon Birmingham told Sky News Australia on Friday. Birmingham acknowledged, however, that Australia received 300,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week. Australia expects the vaccine will be made available to anyone who wants it by October.

The country has secured 53.8 million doses of the vaccine made by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. "We are obviously disappointed and frustrated by this decision," Birmingham said. SII to ship 10mn doses to UK Meanwhile, Britain says it will receive 10 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India, a company that was meant to be producing vaccines for the world's developing countries.

WHO to junk draft report on Wuhan

Geneva: A World Health Organisation team probing into the origins of coronavirus is planning to scrap an interim report on its recent mission to China amid mounting tensions between Beijing and Washington over the investigation and an appeal from one international group of scientists for a new probe, said a Wall Street Journal report. The scientists said a team that had last month completed a mission to Wuhan had "insufficient access to adequately investigate possible sources of the new coronavirus, including whether it slipped from a laboratory".

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