European Union Restricts The Exports, Australia Lacks 3 Million Doses Of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 Vaccine

Vaccine AstraZeneca. (Wikimedia Commons / gencat cat)

JAKARTA - Australian authorities announced that they had not received more than 3 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, in line with export restrictions imposed by the European Union on Tuesday, April 6. As a result, the vaccination program currently being implemented in Australia has encountered obstacles.

Initially, Australian health authorities promised to deliver at least 4 million doses of the first COVID-19 vaccine by the end of March. However, the realization was only 670 thousand doses, after the European Union blocked the export of AstraZeneca vaccines.

The European Union's decision was taken in line with AstraZeneca's failure to fulfill their promise of delivering the vaccine in accordance with the number promised to the European Union.

"We are scheduled to receive more than 3 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from abroad. It has not arrived in Australia now because of the shipping problems we have seen happening here and in other parts of the world", Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd told Sky News, reported by Reuters.

Australia started their vaccination program later than other countries, as the number of infections and death tolls from COVID-19 in the country is relatively low since the pandemic began last year.

There were recorded cases of COVID-19 infection under 29.400 cases, while the death toll was 909 deaths. However, the delay in AstraZeneca's dosage made it difficult to increase the speed of the vaccination program.

The majority of Australia's nearly 26 million population will be given the AstraZeneca vaccine, with 50 million doses to be produced locally from the end of March. So far, about 2.5 million doses have been produced locally, with thousands of doses having passed testing and being distributed to vaccination sites.

The Australian Pharmaceutical Union, tasked with assisting with the implementation of the national vaccination program from May, said on Tuesday that domestic vaccine approvals were slow and logistical problems would now be maximized to completion in June.

"We have been told the delay has to do with the supply chain rather than the ability of the pharmacy network to participate", Union Pharmaceuticals President Trent Twomey told Reuters.

Twomey also blamed the slow rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination program, due to a lack of coordination between the national and state governments. In addition, he also regretted the slower-than-expected distribution and the lack of certainty about the supply of vaccines.

Meanwhile, national authorities said vaccination centers would double in number at the weekend. This is in line with plans to scale up the vaccination program which aims to give everyone at least one dose by the end of October.