BRUSSELS: The European Union took on vaccine producer AstraZeneca in a Brussels court on Wednesday and accused the drugmaker of acting in bad faith by providing shots to other nations.
The drugmaker had promised them for urgent delivery to the EU’s 27 member countries.
The EU accused AstraZeneca of postponing deliveries so the Anglo-Swedish company could service Britain, among others.
AstraZeneca’s contract with the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, foresaw an initial 300 million doses being distributed, with an option for another 100 million. The doses were expected to be delivered throughout 2021. But only 30 million were sent during the first quarter.
Deliveries have increased slightly since then but, according to the EU commission, the company is set to supply 70 million doses in the second quarter when it had promised 180 million. A lawyer for AstraZeneca said the company said Wednesday that “more or less 60 million doses” from the total order have been delivered so far.
EU lawyer Rafael Jafferali told the court that AstraZeneca expects to deliver the total number of contracted doses by the end of December, but he said that “with a six-month delay, it’s obviously a failure.”
Jafferali asked the court to fine the drugmaker 10 million euros ($12.2 million) per infraction and to force AstraZeneca to pay 10 euros per dose for each day of delay as compensation for breaching the EU contract.
The EU has insisted its gripes with the company are about deliveries only and has repeatedly said that it has no problems with the safety or quality of the vaccine itself. The shots have been approved by the European Medicines Agency, the EU’s drug regulator.
The EU’s main argument is that AstraZeneca should have used production sites located within the bloc and in the UK for EU supplies as part of a “best reasonable effort” clause in the contract. Jafferali said the European Commission agreed to pay 870 million euros for the shots and 50 million doses that should have been delivered to the EU went to third countries instead, “in violation” of the contract.
Charles-Edouard Lambert, another lawyer on the EU team, said AstraZeneca decided to reserve production at its Oxford site for Britain.
“This is utterly serious. AstraZeneca did not use all the means at its disposal. There is a double standard in the way it treats the UK and member states,” he said.
A lawyer representing AstraZeneca, Hakim Boularbah, said the company’s May 2020 agreement with the UK government and Oxford University, the vaccine’s co-developer, to supply 100 million doses of vaccine at cost clearly gave priority to Britain.
“It’s very shocking to be accused of fraud,” Boularbah said, calling it “a groundless accusation.”
The EU also accused AstraZeneca of misleading the European Commission by providing data on the delivery delays that lacked clarity.
While the bloc insists AstraZeneca has breached its contractual obligations, the company says it has fully complied with the agreement, arguing that vaccines are difficult to manufacture, with dozens of components produced in several different nations, and it made its best effort to deliver on time.
“Unfortunately, to this date, more or less 60 million doses from the order have been delivered,” Boularbah said, adding that AstraZeneca does everything it can to increase production and will deliver the 300 million of doses agreed to as soon as possible.
He played down the urgency claimed by the EU, saying 13 million AstraZeneca doses were stocked in EU member states. However, since the AstraZeneca vaccination takes two shots up to 12 weeks apart, member states can opt to reserve some of their supplies to make sure that recipients can get their second dose on time.
As part of an advanced purchase agreement with vaccine companies, the EU said it invested 2.7 billion euros ($3.8 billion), including 336 million ($408 million), to finance the production of AstraZeneca’s vaccine at four factories.
The long-standing dispute drew media attention for weeks earlier this year amid a deadly surge of coronavirus infections in Europe, when delays in vaccine production and deliveries hampered the EU’s vaccination campaign.
Cheaper and easier to use than rival shots from Pfizer-BioNTech, the AstraZeneca vaccine developed with Oxford University was a pillar of the EU’s vaccine rollout. But the EU’s partnership with the firm quickly deteriorated amid accusations it favored its relationship with British authorities.
While the UK made quick progress in its vaccination campaign thanks to its AstraZeneca supplies, the EU faced embarrassing complaints and criticism for its slow start.
Concerns over the pace of the rollout across the EU grew after AstraZeneca said it couldn’t supply EU members with as many doses as originally anticipated because of production capacity limits.
The health situation has dramatically improved in Europe in recent weeks, with the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths on a sharp downward trend as vaccination has picked up. About 300 million doses of vaccine have been delivered in Europe — a region with around 450 million inhabitants, with about 245 million already administered.
About 46 percent of the EU population have had at least one dose.
Fanny Laune, another lawyer from the European Commission’s legal team, insisted the case needs to be treated urgently despite vaccination campaigns picking up across the bloc. She said other producers in the EU vaccine portfolio have experienced delays in deliveries and could still be hampered by production problems.
She added that several EU countries have based their vaccine strategy on the AstraZeneca shots and that five member states won’t be able to reach the targets set by the EU by the end of June if the drugmaker doesn’t provide the promised doses in time.
“If this legal action allows to save just one life, it justifies an urgent ruling,” Laune said.
In total, the European Commission has secured more than 2.5 billion of vaccine doses with various manufacturers, but is now shying away from placing more orders with AstraZeneca. It recently sealed another major order with Pfizer and BioNTech through 2023 for an additional 1.8 billion doses to be shared among EU members.
A judgment is to be delivered at a later date. In addition to the emergency action, the European Commission has launched a claim on the merits of the case for damages for which a hearing hasn’t yet been set by the court.
EU seeks big fine in court case over AstraZeneca deliveries
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EU seeks big fine in court case over AstraZeneca deliveries
- EU accused AstraZeneca of postponing deliveries so the Anglo-Swedish company could service Britain among others
- AstraZeneca’s contract with the European Commission foresaw an initial 300 million doses being distributed
Vietnam village starts over with climate defenses after landslide
- Last year, Typhoon Yagi’s rains unleashed a landslide that engulfed much of Lang Nu village in mountainous Lao Cai province
She and dozens of survivors have been relocated to a site that authorities hope will withstand future climate change-linked disasters, with stronger homes, drainage canals and a gentler topography that lessens landslide risks.
It is an example of the challenges communities around the world face in adapting to climate change, including more intense rains and flash floods like those Typhoon Yagi brought last September.
Kim lost 14 relatives and her traditional timber stilt home when Yagi’s rains unleashed a landslide that engulfed much of Lang Nu village in mountainous Lao Cai province.
The storm was the strongest to hit Vietnam in decades, killing at least 320 people in the country and causing an estimated $1.6 billion in economic losses.
It is unlikely to be an outlier though, with research last year showing climate change is causing typhoons in the region to intensify faster and last longer over land.
Climate change, caused largely by burning fossil fuels, impacts typhoons in multiple ways: a warmer atmosphere holds more water, making for heavier rains, and warmer oceans also help fuel tropical storms.
Kim remains traumatized by the landslide.
She says everything is painful, especially the memory of the moment a torrent of mud swept away her and her two-year-old daughter.
“This disaster was too big for us all,” she said recalling the moment the pair were pulled from the mud hours later.
“I still cannot talk about it without crying. I can’t forget,” the 28-year-old said.
Yagi hit Vietnam with winds in excess of 149 kilometers (92 miles) per hour and brought a deluge of rain that caused destructive flooding in parts of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.
In Lang Nu, 67 residents were killed, and authorities vowed to rebuild the homes of survivors in a safe spot.
By December, 40 new houses were ready at a site around two kilometers away.
It was chosen for its elevation, which should be less impacted by adjacent streams, and its relatively gentle slope gradient.
“Predicting absolute safety in geology is actually very difficult,” said Tran Thanh Hai, rector of Hanoi University of Geology and Mining, who was involved in choosing a new site.
But the site is secure, “to the best of our knowledge and understanding.”
Lao Cai is one of Vietnam’s poorest areas, with little money for expensive warning systems.
However, a simple drainage system runs through the new community, diverting water away from the slope.
This should reduce soil saturation and the chances of another landslide, scientists who worked on the site said.
The village’s new homes are all built of sturdier concrete, rather than traditional wood.
“We want to follow our traditions, but if it’s not safe any longer, we need to change,” Kim said, staring out at the expanse of mud and rock where her old village once stood.
Months later it remains frozen in time, strewn with children’s toys, kitchen pans and motorcycle helmets caught up in the landslide.
Like Kim, 41-year-old Hoang Thi Bay now lives in the new village in a modern stilt house with steel structural beams.
Her roof, once made of palm leaves, is now corrugated iron and her doors are aluminum glass.
She survived the landslide by clinging desperately to the single concrete pillar in her old home as a wall of mud and rocks swept her neighborhood away.
“I still wake up in the night obsessing over what happened,” she said.
“Our old house was bigger and nicer, with gardens and fields. But I sleep here in the new house and I feel much safer,” she said.
Even at the new site, home to around 70 people, there are risks, warned Hai.
Development that changes the slope’s gradient, or construction of dams or reservoirs in the area could make the region more landslide-prone, he said.
Building more houses or new roads in the immediate area, or losing protective forest cover that holds earth in place, could also make the site unsafe, added Do Minh Duc, a professor at the Institute of Geotechnics and Environment at the Vietnam National University in Hanoi.
Yagi wiped out large areas of mature natural forest in Lao Cai and while private companies have donated trees for planting, it is unclear whether they can provide much protection.
“In terms of landslide prevention, the only forest that can have good (protective) effects is rainforest with a very high density of trees, so-called primary forest,” explained Duc, an expert on disaster risk maps who also helped choose the new site.
Leaving the old community was hard for Kim, whose family had lived and farmed there for nearly half a century.
But she is grateful that she and other survivors have a second chance.
“I believe this is the safest ground for us.”
Indian army kills two gunmen in Kashmir
- Kashmir has been divided between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947
- Rebel groups have fought for decades demanding independence for Kashmir or its merger with Pakistan
SRINAGAR, India: India’s army said they had killed two gunmen in Kashmir close to the contested frontier with Pakistan, a day after attackers massacred at least 26 people in separate violence.
The army’s Chinar Corps reported Wednesday a “heavy exchange of fire” with gunmen they said were part of an “infiltration bid” at Baramulla, saying it had seized large quantities of weapons and ammunition.
“Two terrorists have been eliminated,” the army said.
Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947, with both claiming the territory in full.
India has an estimated 500,000 soldiers permanently deployed in the territory.
Rebel groups have fought for decades demanding independence for Kashmir or its merger with Pakistan.
Security forces are undertaking a major manhunt after gunmen in the popular tourist spot of Pahalgam slaughtered at least 26 people on Tuesday, the region’s deadliest attack on civilians since 2000.
Fighting has decreased since 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government canceled the partial autonomy of the territory and imposed direct control from New Delhi.
Thousands evacuate as fire spreads in US state of New Jersey
- Jones Road Wildfire was raging across Ocean County and was 10 percent contained
- Local media said the blaze had begun in a massive, rural coastal ecosystem known as the Pine Barrens
NEW YORK: Some 3,000 residents were evacuated in the US state of New Jersey after a wildfire exploded in size, scorching thousands of acres and threatening hundreds of structures, the state’s fire service said Tuesday.
As of 10:30 p.m. (0230 GMT) the Jones Road Wildfire was raging across Ocean County and was 10 percent contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said in a post on social media platform X.
It put the size of the blaze at 8,500 acres (3,440 hectares), just two hours after reporting the fire had hit 3,200 acres.
The fire service said “numerous” fire and rescue personnel had been deployed along with fire engines, bulldozers and ground crews.
It said the cause of the fire was “under investigation.”
Local media said the blaze had begun in a massive, rural coastal ecosystem known as the Pine Barrens, one of the largest protected land areas on the US East Coast.
New Jersey had been under an official drought warning, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection said in March.
Power was knocked out to roughly 25,000 customers, Jersey Central Power & Light said in a post on X.
The blaze also forced the closure of a section of the Garden State Parkway, a major highway through the state.
Ocean County, south of New York City, is a popular tourist destination that is part of the Jersey Shore and contains sights such as the Six Flags amusement park.
The fire service said it would hold a press conference on Wednesday.
Japan PM to visit Vietnam, the Philippines from Sunday
- The April 27-30 trip follows a Southeast Asia tour by Chinese President Xi Jinping
- Some Japanese companies are increasingly shifting production to Vietnam and its neighbor Cambodia
TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will visit Vietnam and the Philippines next week, officials said Wednesday, as Tokyo seeks to ramp up regional ties after Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught.
The April 27-30 trip follows a Southeast Asia tour by Chinese President Xi Jinping, with Beijing trying to position itself as a stable alternative to the United States as leaders confront Trump’s levies.
“Strengthening relations with Southeast Asia, a global growth center and strategic location, is one of the top priorities of Japanese diplomacy,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters.
“Relations with Vietnam and the Philippines are of particular importance, with their populations exceeding 100 million and as they continue their strong economic growth.”
Xi last week urged Vietnam to join forces with China to “oppose unilateral bullying and uphold the stability of the global free trade system.”
Hours later, Trump said Xi’s visit to Hanoi had been aiming to “screw” the United States.
Despite being a key US ally and the biggest investor into the United States, Japan has been pinched by steep tariffs imposed by Trump on imports of cars, steel and aluminum.
Some Japanese companies, reportedly including gaming giant Nintendo, are increasingly shifting production to Vietnam and its neighbor Cambodia, partly because of the fallout from the last US-China trade war.
An official statement from Manila said that Ishiba would visit the Philippines on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
A meeting between Ishiba and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos “will aim to deepen and improve economic and development cooperation, political and defense engagements, and people-to-people exchanges,” it said.
Japan is a key security partner of the Philippines, and an agreement that would allow them to deploy troops on each other’s territory is awaiting ratification by Tokyo.
The two countries in January vowed to strengthen cooperation to counter China’s actions in the disputed South China Sea – with Japan pledging to enhance the Philippines’ “maritime security” and “maritime safety capabilities.”
Trump: No plans to fire Fed Chair Powell, but wants lower rates
- “I have no intention of firing him,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he has no plans to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, but said he wants interest rates to be lower, remarks that could defuse tensions over the central bank chief’s future that have rattled investors.
“I have no intention of firing him,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday. “I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates,” he added.
Trump’s statement was the first de-escalation after days of withering criticisms he has lobbed at Powell for not further cutting interest rates since Trump resumed office in January.
The broadsides were often accompanied by threatening remarks, such as last week’s social media posting that Powell’s termination as Fed chair “cannot come fast enough,” that spooked financial markets that view the Fed’s independence as underpinning its credibility on the global financial stage.
But while he seems to have set aside those threats for now, his criticisms of Fed rate policy remain just as pointed.
“We think that it’s a perfect time to lower the rate, and we’d like to see our chairman be early or on time, as opposed to late,” Trump said.
