| UPDATED: 22:46, Fri, Mar 5, 2021
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The EU executive backed Italy s decision to block a shipment of 250,000 vaccine doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Australia, in the first refusal of an export request since a mechanism to monitor vaccine flows was established in late January.
Australia s Prime Minister Scott Morrison (Image: GETTY)
But it would appear this alliance did not deliver on its aspirations, as so far it has only administered 7.6 jabs per 100 people, a huge gap when compared with rivals the UK (31.2 people) and the US (24.3).
The nations vow to help finance research into the vaccines also appeared unclear, particularly when compared with the likes of Britain and the US.
According to a report by scientific data company Airfinity, the UK spent £25 per person on early COVID-19 research, committing around £1.67billion to vaccines before knowing their effectiveness.
The US offered £7.9billion, at a rate of £24.02 per person, while the EU lagged behind again, spending just £3.51 per citizen, with an investment of £1.57billion.
A FORMER British ambassador to the US and Germany has lashed out at the EU s farce to disgrace following Brussels move to block a shipment of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.
Coronavirus vaccine: The number of vaccines administered in different countries (Image: EXPRESS)
Mr Murphy added: We have a million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Germany today, not being used and we have 1.5 million in France not being used. So my question is to mandate the task force to go and get those vaccine supplies for Ireland.
The Fine Gael politician also tweeted: Other EU countries are securing additional vaccines independently, and the EU says we are free to do so. So let’s, as a start, ask Germany & France for the 2m+ AZ vaccines sitting in their hospitals unused.