LA FINE DELLA UE E' IMMINENTE - E CON ESSA IL GOVERNO DRAGHI

Brussels humiliated after Germany and France ignore plea for EU unity on vaccines

BRUSSELS' desperate plea for EU unity on vaccines this week has been ignored by leading member states inside the bloc.

By Oli Smith

PUBLISHED: 18:35, Sat, Apr 10, 2021 | UPDATED: 18:36, Sat, Apr 10, 2021 

 

Brussels has urged the EU member states to unify on its vaccine rollout programme, as they warn that without a unified response, public confidence in vaccinations could plummet. The bloc's senior leaders urged its 27 member states to find a unified response to the finding by regulators that blood clots are a rare side-effect of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab. However, the plea appears to have been ignored by leading member states inside the bloc with France and Germany both splitting with the bloc's European Medicines Agency (EMA) advice.

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Despite the EMA's insistence that there was no evidence to justify limiting the administration of the vaccine to specific age groups, about 17 member states have put restrictions on AstraZeneca's use.

Reporting from Paris, RT's Charlotte Dubenskij said: "The link between AstraZeneca and blood clots is exposing the latest divisions within the EU after the bloc's agency European Medicines Agency once again said the benefit outweigh the risks."

She said that Italy, Spain, Germany have limited the use of AstraZeneca to those over the age of 60, while France and Belgium have restricted it to those above the age of 55.

Ms Dubenskij continued: "Those differences are causing a headache for Brussels."

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Brussels has urged the EU member states to unify on its vaccine rollout programme (Image: GETTY)

Vaccine centres in Germany seen empty this week (Image: GETTY)

She noted: "Without a common policy towards AstraZeneca, trust towards vaccine policies could be eroded.

"However, this ship may have already sailed.

"In France, people have refused to turn up for their appointments if the vaccine is AstraZeneca.

"Meanwhile, in Germany its vaccine chief Thomas Merton has admitted that member states can be pickier than the EU."

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One person Ms Dubenskij interviewed in Paris railed against the EU's confusing response (Image: GETTY)

One person Ms Dubenskij interviewed in Paris railed against the EU's confusing response.

He said: "It's confusing, to say the laws change from one country to another when it's the same product.

"We wonder what studies they are based on. The management is not clear at all."