Baltic countries called on the European Union to create a mechanism for the redistribution of unused vaccines from coronavirus between community countries. They write about this in a letter to the European Commissioner on Health Care Challes Kiriakides.
The letter was signed by the Health Ministers of the Three Baltic countries. "It is important to think about improving the effectiveness of our joint efforts to vaccinate and further strengthen solidarity between member states by introducing a redistribution mechanism," is indicated in the text. According to ministers, in some EU countries, unused excess vaccines supplied, which can lead to the damage of drugs due to their small storage period. "
As the Minister of Health and Labor Estonia, Tanel Kiyk, explained, the Baltic countries do not question the mechanism of quotas in the distribution of vaccines in the EU, but they offer to make some exceptions from it. "According to the proposal of the Baltic countries, the distribution of vaccines in the European Union on a proportional basis in the long run will still act, the question is to adjust the delivery schedules to help countries in an emergency," he said.
As expected, the initiative of the Baltic countries will soon be discussed by representatives of the EU countries, which are responsible for carrying out joint procurement.
Problems with supplies
As Bloomberg writes, the letter of ministers of the Baltic countries was born after the EU's authorities decided to redirect the supply of vaccines in a sharply needing in these drugs Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The Baltic countries in March will receive significantly less vaccines than it was intended initially. For example, the Ministry of Health of Lithuania said that the volume of supply of Astrazeneca vaccine to the republic in the first half of the year is reduced by more than a quarter.
"Why it happened, the Arugues did not lead," said the representative of the Minister of Health Aysta Shuksta.
Against this background, the Baltic countries have become more active to consider alternative opportunities for obtaining vaccines. The President of Lithuania Gitanas housing believes that the lack of a Vaccine Astrazeneca will be able to compensate for the American drug Johnson & Johnson. It must be approved for use in the EU countries in the coming weeks.
In Latvia and Estonia, in turn, make it clear that third-country vaccines are ready to purchase vaccines. After the President and Prime Minister of Estonia stated that they were ready to buy the Russian "satellite V" after its approval in the EU, the similar statements were made by the Latvian Minister of Health Daniel Pavluts and the Minister of Defense Artis Pabrix.