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COVID-19

EU states seek summit on unfair vaccine handouts as AstraZeneca announce more delays

Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Latvia have called for a EU summit to discuss "huge disparities" in the distribution of vaccines, according to a letter published Saturday.

Published: 13 March 2021 11:12 CET
EU states seek summit on unfair vaccine handouts as AstraZeneca announce more delays
(Photo by JENS SCHLUETER / AFP)

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz suggested Friday that some members of the European Union may have signed “secret contracts” with vaccine companies to receive more doses than they were entitled to as per EU-wide agreements.

Kurz and his four counterparts on Friday sent a letter to Ursula Von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and Charles Michel, president of the European Council, claiming that “deliveries of vaccine doses by pharma companies to individual EU member states are not being implemented on an equal
basis.”

“If this system were to carry on, it would continue creating and exacerbating huge disparities among member states by this summer, whereby some would be able to reach herd immunity in a few weeks while others would lag far behind,” the letter said.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. Photo: YVES HERMAN / AFP / POOL

“We therefore call on you… to hold a discussion on this important matter among leaders as soon as possible,” it said.

Kurz on Friday described “bazaars” where some member states made additional agreements with vaccine companies, but an EU spokesman said that it was up to members states to “ask less or more of a given vaccine.”

The Austrian health ministry also dismissed Kurz’s claims, reiterating the EU’s statement that each member state was allowed to say how many doses of the various vaccines it wanted to procure.

“These were very balanced and transparent negotiations,” Ines Stilling, general secretary of the Austrian health ministry, said in an interview with the public broadcaster Saturday.

The European Union has blamed its sluggish vaccine rollout on supply and delivery problems and continues to lag behind the United States, Israel and the United Kingdom in terms of the percentage of the population that has already received at least one dose.

READ ALSO: France will not halt use of AstraZeneca vaccine, says health minister

The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca announced a new shortfall in planned vaccine shipments to the European Union on Saturday, citing production problems and export restrictions.

“AstraZeneca is disappointed to announce a shortfall in planned COVID-19 vaccine shipments to the European Union (EU) despite working tirelessly to accelerate supply,” it said in a statement.

The company had previously warned it was facing shortfalls from its European supply chain due to “lower-than-expected output from the production process.”

It was hoping to compensate for part of the shortfall by sourcing vaccines from its global network, with half of the EU’s supply in the second quarter and 10 million doses in the first quarter due to come from its international supply chain.

READ ALSO: AstraZeneca suspension: Blood-clot risk ‘no higher in vaccinated people’

(Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)

“Unfortunately, export restrictions will reduce deliveries in the first quarter, and are likely to affect deliveries in the second quarter,” it added.

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AstraZeneca started delivery of the vaccine to the EU in February, and still aims to deliver 100 million doses in the first half of 2021, of which 30 million are due to be delivered in the first quarter.

The under-fire firm said it was “collaborating with the EU Commission and member states to address the supply challenges.

“It remains confident that productivity in its EU supply chain will continue to improve, to help protect millions of Europeans against the virus.”

READ ALSO: Covid-19: Italy bans batch of AstraZeneca vaccine

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SPANISH LAW

Ley ELA: What is Spain’s new neurodegenerative disorders law?

Spain's new 'ALS Law' has been expanded to include all other neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's. Here's what you need to know.

Published: 29 April 2024 10:24 CEST
Ley ELA: What is Spain's new neurodegenerative disorders law?

What is Spain’s ELA law?

La ley de ELA (ELA law) was initially created for (and named after) people suffering with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis – a degenerative illness that affects around 4000 Spaniards.

The law has seen several iterations in recent months and drafts have been presented by different parties with different alterations and amendments.

It was originally put forward by the centre-right opposition Partido Popular to modify 2006 legislation on Personal Autonomy and Care for dependent persons, and included a specific set of changes for patients diagnosed with ALS, with the underlying aim of speeding up diagnosis and increasing benefits for care.

Why is legislation needed?

In Spain, it is estimated that there are over 1 million people and families affected by a neurodegenerative disease. Due to the characteristics of these disorders and the changing (namely ageing) demographics of Spanish society, their prevalence is increasing. Many struggle to get the appropriate care they need in a timely manner.

The ELA law aims to speed up these processes and better coordinate care between health and social services.

READ ALSO: Older and more diverse: What Spain’s population will be like in 50 years

With regards to ELA specifically, it has long been felt that further legislation was necessary to improve the lives and care of ELA sufferers.

“It is absolutely necessary and humanely essential. We cannot allow people to choose to die every day for economic reasons, when what they really want is to live,” said the Spanish ALS Association in March when previous proposals were put forward.

Why is it back in the news?

Essentially because various parties have put forward drafts and the government coalition of PSOE-Sumar has now made its own proposal, expanding the law beyond ALS suffers to include other neurodegenerative disorders, such as:

  • Alzheimer’s disease and other memory disorders.
  • Ataxia.
  • Huntington’s disease.
  • Parkinson’s disease.
  • Motor neurone disease.
  • Multiple system atrophy.
  • Progressive supranuclear palsy.

What does the government propose?

By expanding the scope of neurodegenerative disorders covered by the law, the Ministry of Social Rights wants to include the more than 1 million people in Spain who suffer from them, and to give them the benefits previously outlined for ALS sufferers.

In broad strokes, this means creating quicker responses so that people who have been diagnosed with neurodegenerative diseases and need care can be assessed and access, in the shortest possible time, the services and benefits available to them.

What will the law actually do?

According to a statement from La Moncloa, one of its main objectives is to “rationalise and reduce procedures as much as possible, to ensure that there is no significant time lag between the process of a disease and the response offered to sufferers by public administrations in all areas.”

The Health Ministry will also update the previous Approach to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, which dates back to 2017, to incorporate new goals and actions in the care of people with ALS.

Recommendations for the broader Neurodegenerative Diseases Strategy related to prevention, care and research will also be implemented.

It will include a review of the National Health System’s Portfolio of Services, within the Commission on Benefits, Assurance and Funding of the Inter-territorial Council of the National Health System, with regard to neuromuscular diseases, especially in the field of orthoprosthesis.

Coordination between health and social services will be improved, recognising the role of Spain’s regional health services in establishing the necessary coordination procedures so that patients can access multidisciplinary, continuous and “as individualised as possible.”

It will also introduce a benefit (bono social eléctrico) for family’s of neurodegenerative patients that are dependent on a machine connected to the grid.

When will it finally pass?

It’s unclear, despite the fact that most parties in the Spanish Congress are behind the legislation. The final bill should pass fairly easily, however, though it’s unclear when a final vote will actually be held.

Spain’s Minister for Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030, Pablo Bustinduy, said this week he is “convinced” that it will be passed during this legislature, swearing that his department will do everything in its power “to achieve it” as soon as possible.

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