EMA approves new vaccine plants in Germany, other countries
March 26, 2021
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Friday approved several new coronavirus vaccine production sites in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The sites will increase vaccine manufacturing and capacity in the European Union, as the bloc faces widespread shortages.
New sites 'a welcome step' for boosted vaccine production, EU health chief says
European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kryiakides called the approvals of more production plants "a welcome step in increasing EU production capacity: citizens' access to vaccinations must accelerate, every day and every dose counts."
The Marburg, Germany site will produce the joint BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine. It will produce not only the active substance of the vaccine, but also the finished product, according to a statement from the EMA.
Another manufacturing site in Leiden, the Netherlands will produce AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine. The site, run by the Halix subcontractor, will specialize in the active substance of the vaccine.
The EMA has also greenlit new manufacturing lines for Moderna's coronavirus vaccine at the Lonza facility in Visp, Switzerland.
EU vaccine shortages result in spat with UK
The EU is currently facing widespread shortages of coronavirus vaccines, with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday threatening to ban the export of AstraZeneca doses out of the bloc until the company fulfills its delivery promises. The EU and UK have fought over the AstraZeneca plant in Leiden, with Britain claiming the Dutch plant as part of its vaccine supply chain.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Friday accused Britain of "blackmail" over its dealings with the EU on the vaccines, after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said trade blockades by the EU could deter investment in the bloc. Le Drian believes the UK is under pressure to procure more vaccines, because it lacks the doses for a second shot.
"You can't be playing like this, a bit of blackmail, just because you hurried people to get vaccinated with a first shot, and now you're a bit handicapped because you don't have the second one," Le Drian told France Info radio about the UK's vaccine strategy.
The AstraZeneca vaccine previously stirred controversy in Europe, due to possible blood clots. The EMA has said it found no clear link between the vaccine and clotting.
wd/aw (AFP, Reuters)