On the day Britain s vaccine tsar announced the deal securing 40 million doses of the Pfizer jab, her Brussels opposite number was literally talking about the price of fish.
It was July 20, and while Kate Bingham was giving the UK a stunning head-start, Stella Kyriakides, the European commissioner in charge of the bloc s inoculation plan, was embroiled in an intractable meeting of the EU s Agriculture and Fisheries Council.
A further four months would elapse before the EU managed to place its own order with Pfizer.
Success has many fathers, and Ministers and scientists are jostling to receive the plaudits for the UK s nimble, world-beating strategy.
Millions of Europeans Have to Wait Another Week Before Being Jabbed Published December 21st, 2020 - 07:21 GMT
Boxes containing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are prepared to be shipped at the McKesson distribution center on December 20, 2020 in Olive Branch, Mississippi. The federal government plans to distribute over the coming week a total of 7.9 million doses of vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer Inc. Paul Sancya - Pool/Getty Images/AFP POOL / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP
Highlights
While the EU is determined that vaccination programmes will begin simultaneously in all member states, Germany has been pressing to begin inoculations as its infection rate spirals.
Millions of Europeans will have to wait at least another week before vaccination programmes against Covid-19 in their countries get under way.
Regulators at the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will meet tomorrow to decide whether to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech jab, which was developed in the German city of Mainz.
If they give it the go-ahead, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that vaccinations will begin across the continent next Sunday.
Regulators at the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will meet tomorrow to decide whether to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech jab (pictured, file image), which was developed in the German city of Mainz
The chair of Ireland’s Covid Vaccination Task Force has said inoculations against the killer disease will start before the end of the year, ‘all going well’. Professor Brian MacCraith said he is confident ‘we should be ready’ to start administering the first 5,000 doses provided approval is given by the European Medicines Agency and certain safety guidelines are met.
EMA approval may come as early as tomorrow. ‘All going well in terms of approval from the EMA and contingent on the arrival of vaccines – but we’re very hopeful that will happen soon,’ Prof. MacCraith said.
‘Every effort will be made to commence the programme this side of New Year’s Day. We can’t at this stage be more specific than that. Everything will be driven by safety matters and following what is laid out in the documentation.