Australia asks Brussels to review Italian block on vaccine exports

Australia has asked the European Commission to review Italy’s decision to “tear up the rule book” and block a shipment of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine destined for the Pacific nation.

Although Canberra expressed frustration on Friday that the shipment had been halted, it also sought to reassure the Australian public that the incident would not affect the country’s vaccine rollout.

“The world is in uncharted territory at present, it’s unsurprising that some countries would tear up the rule book,” said Simon Birmingham, Australia’s finance minister.

Birmingham told Sky News that Italy’s action was disappointing. But he also highlighted Australia’s success in containing Covid-19 compared with the desperation of other nations.

Canberra insisted the government would have “more than enough” vaccines to distribute until local manufacture of the AstraZeneca vaccine begins in late March.

Italy blocked a shipment of 250,700 Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines destined for Australia because the Pacific country was not considered a “vulnerable country”.

It was the first intervention since the EU introduced rules over the transport of vaccines outside the bloc in response to delays in the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine to member states. The commission had the power to object to the Italian decision but did not, officials said.

Greg Hunt, Australia’s health minister, said that Canberra “had raised the issue with the European Commission through multiple channels”.

Analysts warned that Italy’s move threatened to inflame global tensions over vaccine procurement after EU allies objected to the introduction of an export regime.

Australia has managed the pandemic better than most developed nations and has only a handful of Covid-19 infections, almost all of them in hotel quarantine. The country has begun vaccinating vulnerable people with the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine and on Friday administered its first inoculation with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Hassan Vally, an associate professor at La Trobe University, said Rome’s decision to block the vaccine was not unexpected.

“Problems with the procuring of vaccines for Australia was always a likelihood during the pandemic and factored into the vaccine rollout plans,” Vally said.

“It’s one of the reasons we signed agreements to obtain many more vaccines than we required and also why we adopted a diverse portfolio approach.”

Health experts in Australia said Italy’s decision reflected a trend towards vaccine nationalism, adding that it was crucial that the Pacific country maintained local manufacturing capability.

“It does underline the importance of Australia having some level of independence in vaccine production via CSL [Australia’s biggest drugmaker],” said Terry Nolan, head of vaccine and immunisation research at the Doherty Institute and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. 

“It also reminds us that we do not have mRNA manufacturing capacity in Australia, and we must urgently find ways to make that happen.”

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