According to informed sources, Austria made a big fuss during the European Union summit on vaccine distribution. Prime Minister Curtis, along with six other countries, believe that vaccines are not evenly distributed between countries. According to him, Pfizer’s ten million vaccines delivered earlier should mainly go to countries left behind.
Today, European heads of government sat together digitally to discuss vaccines, among other things.
irritation
Many member states agree with Curtis. Countries such as Latvia, Croatia, and Bulgaria lag behind other European countries and hang at the bottom of the list of percentages of residents who have been vaccinated. “We are more impressed with the concerns of countries like Bulgaria, Latvia and Croatia. We think Austria is not the first country to face a problem,” Prime Minister Rutte said after the summit. But according to Curtis, Austria should receive more vaccinations.
This caused anger among other government leaders. Compared to most other European countries, Austria has already vaccinated a larger proportion of the population. It is said that German Chancellor Merkel in particular was annoyed by Austria’s stance. It has now been decided that the ambassadors will discuss how to distribute ten million Pfizer vaccines across countries in the coming weeks.
Export of vaccines
Member states also discussed stricter export restrictions on vaccines introduced by the European Commission yesterday, and some countries, including the Netherlands, have voiced some concerns about the restrictions. After the EU summit, Prime Minister Rutte said he preferred not to use export restrictions.
Yesterday, the Vice President of the European Commission in Latvia Dombrovskis said that the restrictions are mainly working as a means of lobbying for vaccines from the UK, among other countries. According to Rottie, there is something to be said for this. “But we think it’s important to keep this rifle empty.” After the concerns were manifested, the committee’s plans were finally agreed upon.
