“The Observer view on the vaccine dispute with Brussels”, The Observer
Observer Editorial, London, 31 Jan 2021
Making a scapegoat of Britain can’t disguise the EU’s shambolic response to Covid-19 vaccine acquisition
The European commission’s U-turn over its reckless plan to effectively blockade the Ireland-Northern Ireland border is the latest humiliation suffered by Brussels amid an escalating firestorm sparked by Covid-19 vaccine supply shortages across Europe. The commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has made a series of mistakes and misjudgments in handling the pandemic over the past year. This latest blunder will intensify doubts about her leadership.
It is extraordinary that Von der Leyen and senior colleagues did not appear to appreciate how unwise, and potentially dangerous for the Belfast-Good Friday agreement, was their move to impose back-door vaccine import controls on the UK using Brexit’s Northern Ireland protocol. This had to be personally spelled out to her by Boris Johnson and the Irish taoiseach, Micheál Martin. Both expressed “deep unhappiness” – code for utter fury and amazement.
The shambles in Brussels did not begin with this row, nor is Von der Leyen the only culprit. A palpable sense of panic has gripped EU leaders in recent days as public anger has understandably grown over Europe-wide vaccine shortfalls. In France, Spain and elsewhere, vaccination schedules are in turmoil. People in the most vulnerable groups are being turned away. As demands for an explanation rise, political blame-shifting has reached a new level.
AstraZeneca, the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company, has emerged as the scapegoat of choice for European politicians and bureaucrats anxious to avoid taking responsibility. Its outstanding success, sparked by a brilliant team of scientists and researchers at Oxford University, in producing a highly effective, easily administered, at-cost vaccine seems too much to stomach for the likes of Emmanuel Macron, France’s president.
France has, sadly, failed to produce its own vaccine. Last week, the celebrated Pasteur Institute abandoned its main vaccine project, while the French pharma group, Sanofi, also admitted temporary defeat. French leaders have taken this hard. “It’s a sign of the decline of the country,” said Macron ally François Bayrou. He blamed the United States for a French “brain drain”.
Macron took aim elsewhere. In remarkably ill-informed comments on Friday, he regurgitated erroneous German claims that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in use in the UK was “ineffective” among people aged over 65. He also suggested, again without evidence, that the company, and the UK government, had engaged in “questionable behaviour”.
It’s no surprise that a French leader, down in the polls ahead of elections next year and feeling the heat, should unfairly pick on Britain. Less expected have been unhelpful interventions by other European politicians, notably German health minister, Jens Spahn. While Spahn amplified doubts about the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, others were complaining, perversely, about supply cuts – all as the European regulator dithered over approving its use, which it finally did on Friday.
Low-quality European leadership has been a problem since the start of the pandemic. The commission belatedly realised last spring that it was in a global vaccine race, not least with Donald Trump. It allowed four countries – Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands – to lead negotiations with possible suppliers. Then in June, Von der Leyen and her equally unimpressive health commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, fatefully changed their minds.