Scott Morrison – Scott Morrison pushes EU over AstraZeneca export ban
The pair and Foreign Minister Marise Payne have been discussing the situation with their EU counterparts. The government hasn’t received assurances against further disruption.
About 300,000 doses of the drug have already arrived in Australia from Europe.
Mr Morrison struck a sympathetic tone when asked about the breakdown, stressing Italy was still recording about 300 deaths each day from the virus. But he said the newly installed Italian government of Prime Minister Mario Draghi was responsible for exercising the export veto.
“I mean, I’m in regular contact with European leaders,” Mr Morrison said. “I can certainly understand the high level of anxiety that would exist in Italy and in many countries across Europe … they are in an unbridled crisis situation. That is not the situation in Australia.”
Mr Hunt said AstraZeneca had reassured Australia it could fill orders, using its “deep, broad” global supply chain.
Only doses already in the country have been factored into Australia’s rollout strategy. The government won’t discuss the timetable for future shipments, citing security concerns.
“We do watch, we are intensely engaged and as we saw through securing masks, test kits, ventilator supply parts and vaccine contracts and vaccines, it is arguable the most intensely competitive international environment since perhaps the Second World War,” Mr Hunt said.
“That is why, arguably, one of the two most important decisions we’ve made throughout the pandemic was to contract for the supply of 50 million doses of Australian-made sovereign manufactured CSL AstraZeneca product in Australia.”
Australia has so far had 743,000 doses delivered, including 443,000 of Pfizer’s drug and 300,000 from AstraZeneca.
The government expects another 149,000 Pfizer doses to be delivered in the next fortnight, before the first of 51 million locally-made doses of AstraZeneca vaccine begin to be supplied, at a rate of one million a week.
An approval for the 50 million doses that CSL will make in Victoria is not expected until late this month.
The EU export mechanism is designed to ensure doses made in the EU are first devoted to servicing Europe. It was brought in after a big brawl between Brussels and AstraZeneca in January, when the European Commission accused the company of failing to fulfil its supply contract and favouring other nations.
Mr Hunt said some states had sufficient capacity to move to phase 1B of their rollout strategies.
Opposition health spokesman Chris Bowen pointed out Mr Hunt had last month stated the EU controls were not expected to affect Australia.
“This government said four million Australians would be vaccinated by the end of March,” he said. “They need to get the vaccine rollout back on track.”
