Australia is pushing the EU for delaying the shipment of COVID 19 vaccine

Australian government declared that Australia is expected to ask the European Union to provide over 3 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine thereby testing the sentiments of the Belgium government which stated that they are not blocking any shipment of the vaccine in pursuit of vaccinating its population.

The European Union (EU) has denied any allegations toward the commission regarding blockage of shipments of COVID-19 vaccine to Australia which has witnessed a drastic fall and is confronting reduced supply than expected in the vaccination program. The EU stated that AstraZeneca is responsible for the failure to meet the deadlines to provide vaccines across various countries. AstraZeneca did not reply to any allegations.

The Australian PM stated that if the EU is willing to ship vaccines, the country can ask for another 3.1 million doses of the vaccines. The doses were expected to reach Australia by the end of March, however, the scheduled vaccine program has got delayed owing to blockage of shipment.

Australian PM said he’s not criticizing the EU for getting late for the schedule, however the senior committee continues to blame the EU for blocking vaccines. The EU is not providing faster approvals which is effectively blocking the shipment of vaccines. Australia says the delay in vaccination program is due to blockage of 3.1 million additional doses owing to which Australia is falling behind in the program.

Australia has been recording few cases for COVID-19 in comparison to most countries and has been able to eradicate the virus from its major regions like Sydney, however, the slow vaccination program can pressurize the Australian government as they have to contest elections next year. About 670,000 people have received the COVID vaccine which is in sharp contrast to the expected target of 4 million to be met by the end of March.