COVID-19/Coronavirus Information and Support Thread (see OP for useful links)

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So this never had anything at all to do with "exports from the UK" or the claimed "UK export ban".
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I think you're confusing yourself here. Your own link quoted 'exports from the UK' and didn't specify where, although as I recall this had more to do with movements between Ireland/NI. There are also problems reported with production in the Dutch plant, but that doesn't mean that all other issues are null and superseded.
 
TenEightyOne
I think you're confusing yourself here. Your own link quoted 'exports from the UK' and didn't specify where, although as I recall this had more to do with movements between Ireland/NI. There are also problems reported with production in the Dutch plant, but that doesn't mean that all other issues are null and superseded.
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AIUI, there were problems with both the Dutch and Belgium plants getting started, and either or both may still be performing less well than hoped for, but I think both are now producing. [1] [2] [3]

I assume you're talking about what VDL said, which isn't something that would specifically affect Ireland/NI (that was the invocation of article 16, which isn't going to happen):
She has said that, in contrast, the EU is still waiting for vaccine exports from the UK and she warned last week that if supplies in Europe do not improve, the bloc "will reflect whether exports to countries who have higher vaccination rates than us are still proportionate".
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There would appear to be a significant difference between what VDL claims and what's actually been happening, which is that doses that would have come to the UK from the NL plant over the past month or so have not been shipped. One might well speculate that this is because of the risk of the shipments being blocked.

The exports to the UK seem to have been all of Pfizer [2], who are (along with Moderna) also "delivering their contracts" (0:38) to the EU.

So I don't think I am confused that the rhetoric about "exports from the UK" and "reciprocity" is merely a way to put a veneer of acceptability on taking the doses from NL by force. I know that sounds a bit hot-takey and strong, but certainly the EU would've known since at least the discussions with AstraZeneca in January that the NL doses were destined for the UK.

I mean, fair enough, I can see why they would justifiably be angry about that. Especially since the UK's vaccination programme has gone along very well without doses from there. But that has not been what they've been saying!

- - - -

Another point, that I've posted about before, is scale. Two weeks ago, VDL said that 300 million doses would be delivered in the EU in the second quarter. (Given the timing, I assume that figure is despite the AstraZeneca shortfall of 70 million). This makes any amount that might be exported from the UK miniscule by comparison. The entire output of the plant in NL is much more relevant.

- - - - -

[1] Reuters reports that UK has had a request for a shipment from NL refused by the EU, so there's something there worth having.

[2] From BBC live feed:
14:57
UK 'does not receive any AstraZeneca vaccines from EU'

Rachel Schraer
BBC Health Reporter

During a briefing, executive vice president at AstraZeneca, Ruud Dobber, said the UK did not receive any of its AstraZeneca vaccines or components from the EU.

Fellow executive vice president Mene Pangalos then clarified that one "tiny" batch which "hasn't been approved yet" had been sent to the UK from Halix, a plant in the Netherlands that has an agreement with AstraZeneca to manufacture the vaccine.

Imported batches of vaccine have to be tested on arrival.

Halix was one of the University of Oxford's original partners for manufacturing the vaccine, Reuters reported.

The UK is mostly self-sufficient when it comes to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine - and has ordered 100 million doses of the jab.

The EU is mainly being supplied with the AZ vaccine by the US and by a site in Belgium, the company confirmed.
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[3] "The diplomats insist it's not in anyone's interest to have vaccines or vaccine components "sitting in a warehouse" when the aim - on both sides of the Channel - is to get needles into arms". - BBC.
 
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Halting distribution would hit Britain badly but not significantly help EU, analysis finds (Guardian)

According to Airfinity, the EU is on target for full vaccination of 75% of the population by 31 August despite its current difficulties, including the lack of supply from AstraZeneca.

Their analysis suggests that should the EU “keep and use the doses meant for the UK it would only bring them forward by just over a week [19 August], as their collective population is much greater”.
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It's not clear what the "just over a week" (and the "two months" in the actual headline) actually refers to in terms of which vaccines not delivered (they appear to be more focused on Pfizer than AstraZeneca). However, basic math based on relative population sizes tells us that whatever amount would give a day of benefit for the EU would cause a week of delay to the UK, roughly speaking.

Even without any holdups caused by the EU, I'd guess that full vaccination of 75% of the UK population would be very unlikely by 31 August.

(Important to keep track of first and second dose counts, since UK and EU have very different strategies on the gap between them. Even now, relatively few in the UK have had their second dose, while in the EU close to half of those that have had their first jab have also had the second. In the article where they say the EU has administered 10.4 vaccine doses per 100 people, that figure is actually for first doses, with the total being 14.9 per 100 (tracker)).

I suppose the question I'm asking (myself, it seems) through all these posts is this: What is "fair"?
 
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Blitz24
Judging by the fact he said "Dose #1" in his post. Yes he could be wrong but why would I question that he's wrong?
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I missed the part where we know there's a dose #2. Do we know that? Because if so, he'd be the first person I have ever heard of in the US to be told up front that he's getting two doses after J&J is an option, and that would be interesting to me.
 
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Danoff
I missed the part where we know there's a dose #2. Do we know that? Because if so, he'd be the first person I have ever heard of in the US to be told up front that he's getting two doses after J&J is an option, and that would be interesting to me.
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You're misunderstanding I think.
 
I live in England and had my first AZ jab on Saturday. No side effects other than a slightly sore spot at the site of the needle entry.
 
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There has been a major increase in assaults and other hate crimes against Oriental people here in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, according to the impression I'm getting from local TV media and newspapers. We are very much a blue region, well educated with a comparatively very large Oriental population, so that is quite surprising to me. It is assumed that the reason is the association of the virus with China. It seems as though prolonged quarantine and economic collapse is getting on some people's nerves, even though they should know better.
 
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This would be awkward, if it were true the doses were to come to the UK (BBC / La Stampa (paywall) / Politico)...
BBC
Meanwhile, millions of AZ doses have reportedly been found in Italy.

La Stampa website says some 29 million vaccine doses due to be shipped to the UK were being stored at the Catalent plant in Anagni near Rome but were discovered by Italian inspectors as part of an investigation by the European Commission.

When asked by the BBC about the report, the foreign ministry in Rome and the Italian prime minister's office refused to comment. The plant has a contract with AstraZeneca to "fill and finish" its vaccines and is set to do the same for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, also approved for use in the EU.
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Politico
Italian authorities have discovered 29 million doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine that had been stocked at a manufacturing site in the country, reported La Stampa on Wednesday.

According to the newspaper, the doses likely come from AstraZeneca's Halix plant in the Netherlands, which hasn't yet been approved for EU production.
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I'm sceptical and feel that La Stampa has gone for the headline that bleeds. There seem to be big assumptions - first that the all of the doses came from the NL plant, second that all doses from the NL plant would be destined for the UK and not exported elsewhere, and lastly that it's actually 'news' that large numbers of doses would be at what is a huge fill-finish plant. It seems very unlikely that the NL plant that has struggled to get running effectively has produced almost as many doses in a month or so as the Belgium and UK plants combined have to date.

It should be noted that the Catalent plant also does the fill-finish for the EU doses of AstraZeneca (Politico). (That article also says that fill-finish of UK doses is done at IDT Biologika, based in Dessau, Germany, although that may have changed with AstraZeneca's expansion of the EU supply chain). Vaccines often travel a long way - for example, the Valneva that is/will be manfactured in Scotland will go to fill-finish in Sweden (BBC) and back, if restrictions allow - so it's not impossible that some of the doses found came from the UK plant.

The timing is certainly inconvenient, with little time to verify the claims before tomorrow's meeting of EU leaders, when they will discuss restrictions.

Edit: the BBC article has been updated to say that none of the doses were for the UK:
The Italian government said "the batches that were inspected were all aimed for Belgium". AstraZeneca said 16 million of the doses were "waiting for quality control release to be dispatched to Europe" while the other 13 million were to go to countries in the Covax vaccine-sharing scheme.
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So there it is. **** stirring La Stampa can go **** itself. Hope the copies sold and website hits were worth any reputation it had for honest reporting, because that was truly shameful.
 
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Those that have had at least their first shot, how were you notified of your appointment? Call or text from a known phone number, or email, or both, etc.? I get so many spam calls I don't want reject one that could possibly be from one of the places I've applied notifying me of when I can get the first shot.
 
Jezza819
Those that have had at least their first shot, how were you notified of your appointment? Call or text from a known phone number, or email, or both, etc.? I get so many spam calls I don't want reject one that could possibly be from one of the places I've applied notifying me of when I can get the first shot.
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I used a local pharmacy that has online scheduling.

However...

I also received a phone call and an email from the medical provider through work that I was eligible for a shot. Two weeks after I'd already had my first. Point being it kind of depends.

PM sent.
 
As I'm eligible for stage 1b of the vaccine rollout in Australia I filled in the paperwork on the first day I could, which was four days ago. After an initial phone call a couple of days ago to recheck my eligibility I got the text yesterday confirming that today's the day for me. :)
 
EU and UK try to end row with 'win-win' on vaccines

Hmm. How does that work when there are only so many doses being produced?!

In an interview with the BBC, the EU's Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton insisted the bloc's issues were with AstraZeneca and not the UK government. "I know that there's some tension... but as long as we have transparency, I think [relations] will be able to be normalised," he said.

He said if AstraZeneca had provided the agreed 120 million doses to the EU, member states would have been at the same rate of vaccination as the UK: "We have been heavily penalised and we just want to understand why".
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Well... if AstraZeneca had provided the agreed 40 million doses by the end of March to the UK, the UK would have had an even higher vaccination rate. Frankly it's pointless to say such a thing. Instead, we've had about 12 to 15 million doses that were produced here, plus a surprise 5 million from India. AstraZeneca has yet to consistently reach its (lowered) target of 2 million doses a week from UK production. (figures from Channel 4). So it's not as if we aren't disappointed with them too - they originally promised us 30 million doses by September 2020 (!!!) - but bullying them isn't going to change anything. They are already setting up multiple further plants within the EU although it will take time for them to produce. The idea that there is any useful amount of vaccine that the UK could export is nonsense.

Breton's quixotic inquistion is welcome to visit the UK to 'inspect' and 'verify' whatever he likes!

With the 16 million doses 'discovered' during the raid on the Italian fill-finish plant, the EU will have had over 30 million doses delivered. So if the 'agreed' numbers are correct and comparable, the UK has had about half and the EU about a quarter of promised doses. However, this is first time I've seen 120 million quoted - in January, the reduction in deliveries of AstraZeneca to the EU by the end of March was variously quoted as being from either 80 or 100 million. If from 80 million, then the respective shortfalls in UK and EU are not massively different.

But that's all about Q1. It's (almost) done. We are where we are, which is heading into Q2.

The EU expects to have 360 million doses delivered in the coming quarter according to VDL (europa.eu):
Let me give you figures and the picture: One more vaccine is approved and will kick-in, that is Johnson & Johnson. It will start in April. We should receive in the second quarter from Johnson & Johnson some 55 million doses – and I want to remind you that this is a one-shot vaccine. We also know that we can rely on the contracted doses by BioNTech-Pfizer. This will be 200 million doses to be delivered in quarter two and the same goes for Moderna, another 35 million doses.

As for AstraZeneca, unfortunately, they will only deliver some 70 million doses. This is down from the 180 million doses that they are contractually committed to deliver. But AstraZeneca announced that they will only be delivering 70 million doses. This is, with the numbers, the state of play for the second quarter.
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I haven't been able to find a comparable statement for UK deliveries expected in Q2. We might expect the flow of Pfizer and AstraZeneca to continue at the same or a slightly improved rate, let's say 10 million Pfizer (EU sourced) and 20+ million of AstraZeneca (UK sourced). Valneva should get approved and start to ship later in the quarter, but no idea how much or when. We may see some Moderna arriving, but that's from EU. All that and more needs to happen if UK supply is to be as good as the EU's for Q2, relative to population size.

I doubt the UK will get as many as 50 million doses over the quarter, so even without restrictions the EU should catch up. Therefore the only "win-win" I can see is ramping down the tensions and going back to civilised trade. Restrictions would always mean a loss to one party, more likely both parties.
 
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Jezza819
Those that have had at least their first shot, how were you notified of your appointment? Call or text from a known phone number, or email, or both, etc.? I get so many spam calls I don't want reject one that could possibly be from one of the places I've applied notifying me of when I can get the first shot.
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For me it was an odd situation.
I had an appointment for a vaccine (Not covid) and due to the weather and the situation outside I decided to reschedule it. (Monday)
When doing so I asked on when I would be eligible and upon questioning and everything I manage to get an appointment that Thursday.
Through the Mayo Clinic.

I wasn't notified I just asked.

Now back onto here.
We have 89 "breakthrough" cases today.
Where they have been fully vaccinated but still got the virus, within the 2 weeks.

Also the UK strain is now dominate here as the cases are now on the rise again.
 
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