EU has shipped tiny percentage of planned Covid-19 shot donations: Document
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard
SUNDAY, MAY 29, 2022
SUNDAY, MAY 29, 2022
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
EU has shipped tiny percentage of planned Covid-19 shot donations: Document

Coronavirus chronicle

Reuters
22 July, 2021, 10:10 pm
Last modified: 22 July, 2021, 10:17 pm

Related News

  • EU to help Bangladesh combat human trafficking: Envoy  
  • EU welcomes Dhaka’s 'openness' to intl election observers at next polls
  • EU brands firm on human rights in supply chain: Expert
  • Ukrainian PM says EU disburses 600m euros to Ukraine
  • EU ambassador to UK says bloc won't change mandate in Brexit talks

EU has shipped tiny percentage of planned Covid-19 shot donations: Document

In total, it says EU countries have committed to sharing about 160 million doses, mostly without preference about their destination

Reuters
22 July, 2021, 10:10 pm
Last modified: 22 July, 2021, 10:17 pm
A medical worker prepares a dose of Oxford/AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Antwerp, Belgium March 18, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman
A medical worker prepares a dose of Oxford/AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in Antwerp, Belgium March 18, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman

EU countries have so far donated just a tiny portion of excess Covid-19 vaccines to poor nations, mostly AstraZeneca shots, less than 3% of the 160 million doses they plan to give away in total to help tame the global pandemic, an EU document shows.

The European Union has committed to helping inoculate the most vulnerable across the world but, like other wealthy countries, EU states have so far focused on buying shots to inoculate their own citizens, contributing to a shortage of vaccines elsewhere.

EU states, with a combined adult population of 365 million, have so far received about 500 million doses from drugmakers and expect nearly a billion by the end of September.

But as of July 13, they had donated less than four million shots, the internal document, compiled by the European Commission and reviewed by Reuters, shows.

In total, it says EU countries have committed to sharing about 160 million doses, mostly without preference about their destination. The tally of shipments and pledged total have not been reported before.

Brussels has previously said EU nations plan to donate at least 100 million doses by the end of the year. There is no timeline for the target listed in the document.

In a statement on Thursday, the EU Commission said member states were on track to exceed the initial target, with 200 million doses to low- and middle-income countries this year. It did not say how many had already been shipped.

According to the document, those distributed so far went mostly to countries and territories with a link to the donor as member states seek to boost relations with nearby countries and deepen diplomatic ties.

A spokesman for the Commission declined to comment on the document and the donations because these decisions were made by national governments.

The small shipments are likely to stir the debate about how wealthy countries are sharing their surplus shots while poor countries still struggle to get supplies.

The World Health Organization has called on Western governments to donate shots to the COVAX programme it runs with vaccine charity GAVI to ensure fair and equitable distribution to the world's neediest.

The EU said on Thursday that most of the 200 million doses would be shared through the programme.

Many poor countries rely on COVAX for their vaccines, but it has so far delivered only 135 million shots globally and is highly dependent on donated doses. Plans to buy shots on its own were temporarily derailed by vaccine makers' production problems and export restrictions in India.

The EU has received enough vaccines to fully inoculate 70% of adults, while South Africa has given only 7% of its adult population one dose and Nigeria only 1%.

The EU shipments are also small compared with more than 15 million doses donated by Washington and shipped over the past month to countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America as part of the US pledge to give away 80 million vaccines. A big portion of those has been through COVAX.

While the tally is effective from July 13, the numbers can change relatively quickly.

Almost all Astrazeneca

EU governments have repeatedly been urged by the EU Commission to speed up donations and share portions of all types of vaccines they receive, EU officials said.

But EU countries have so far promised to donate almost exclusively AstraZeneca, shots, the document shows. Johnson & Johnson is the second most frequent choice for donations, although a large portion of pledges is for unspecified shots.

Many EU countries have set limits on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as well as J&J due to concerns about extremely rare blood clotting, reducing the capacity to use them.

The Commission spokesman said that all vaccines used in the EU were safe and could be donated.

Germany, the EU's largest country, has committed to donating 33 million doses, the document says, 30 million of which were AstraZeneca and J&J and the other three million yet to be specified.

German officials said donations would begin in August and confirmed the numbers and types of vaccines to be donated.

France is by far the EU's main donor in terms of pledges. It has promised 60 million doses, mostly to COVAX and largely without any preference on their final destination.

However, it has so far delivered only about 800,000 doses, half of which went to its former colonies Senegal, Mauritania and Burkina Faso, the document shows.

The document does not clarify which vaccines Paris has donated or intends to donate.

An official with the French finance ministry said nearly five million AstraZeneca doses had been given so far via COVAX, and J&J and Pfizer vaccines will be donated by the end of the summer.

EU / Vaccine Donation / Covid-19 Vaccine donation / Covid-19 Vaccine donations / Coronavirus

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Bankers unhappy with uniform exchange rate
    Bankers unhappy with uniform exchange rate
  • Finance projects export fall, remittance rise
    Finance projects export fall, remittance rise
  • Road crash kills 10 in Barishal 
    Road crash kills 10 in Barishal 

MOST VIEWED

  • A woman wearing a face mask crosses a road at the Central Business District (CBD), amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak in Beijing, China May 10, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
    Shanghai takes further steps towards reopening, Beijing eases Covid curbs
  • Photo: Collected
    US doctors reconsider Pfizer's Paxlovid for lower-risk Covid patients
  • People wearing protective face masks walk on a street, following new cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), in Shanghai, China August 25, 2021. REUTERS/Aly Song
    'Tomorrow will be better': Shanghai inches towards Covid re-opening
  • North Korea says new fever cases under 100,000 as virus fight heats up
    North Korea says new fever cases under 100,000 as virus fight heats up
  • People in protective suits cross a street during lockdown, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Shanghai, China, May 26, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song
    Shanghai heading out of lockdown but China still lost in economic gloom
  • A woman wearing a face mask crosses a road at the Central Business District (CBD), amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak in Beijing, China May 10, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
    Tightening Covid net, Beijing deals out punishments, stark warnings

Related News

  • EU to help Bangladesh combat human trafficking: Envoy  
  • EU welcomes Dhaka’s 'openness' to intl election observers at next polls
  • EU brands firm on human rights in supply chain: Expert
  • Ukrainian PM says EU disburses 600m euros to Ukraine
  • EU ambassador to UK says bloc won't change mandate in Brexit talks

Features

Women voluntarily joined the peaceful procession and protested by wearing clothing of their own choice. Photo: Trishia Nashtaran

The unhealthy obsession with what women wear

9h | Panorama
Illustration: Freepik

Bangladesh is on the verge of destigmatising menstruation

14h | Features
Photo: Collected

The death of Davos?

20h | Panorama
A male Baya Weaver beating wings. Photo: Enam Ul Haque

Baya Weavers weave: ‘Must be witnessed to be fully credited’

23h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Photo: TBS

Tips to help you become a successful lawyer

27m | Videos
Photo: TBS

Harassment over 'indecent clothing': Women gather at Narsingdi railway station to protest, show solidarity

32m | Videos
People bid adieu to Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury

People bid adieu to Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury

32m | Videos
Attorney General's suggestion to reduce case clutter

Attorney General's suggestion to reduce case clutter

14h | Videos

Most Read

1
Bangladesh Bank GM, DGM’s designation changed
Banking

Bangladesh Bank GM, DGM’s designation changed

2
Corporates go cashless…tax cut on cards
NBR

Corporates go cashless…tax cut on cards

3
Photo: Courtesy
Panorama

Misfit Technologies: A Singaporean startup rooted firmly in Bangladesh

4
British International Investment (BII) CEO Nick O’Donohoe. Illustration: TBS
Economy

BII to invest $450m in Bangladesh in 5 years

5
Representational image. Picture: Pixabay
Economy

Govt raises regulatory duty to discourage imports of 130 products

6
Photo: Collected
Industry

Spanish recycled cotton producer opens new facility in Bangladesh

The Business Standard
Top
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Bangladesh
  • International
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Economy
  • Sitemap
  • RSS

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net

Copyright © 2022 THE BUSINESS STANDARD All rights reserved. Technical Partner: RSI Lab