Pfizer boss accuses EU of hampering Covid vaccine rollout

Pfizer has accused the European Union of hampering its Covid vaccine production.

The US drugmaker, which supplies Britain and more than 70 other countries with coronavirus jabs, said new EU rules about the free movement of goods across borders were damaging its ability to export the vaccine.

The rules oblige manufacturers to seek Brussels' approval before exporting every parcel of jabs, which has caused "a significant administrative burden and some uncertainty", said Danny Hendrikse, the pharmaceutical giant's vice-president of global supply.

“Ultimately what we would like our colleagues to do is to focus on making and distributing the vaccine,” he said.

Mr Hendrikse explained the process of gathering all the raw materials needed for jabs was "particularly complex".

"The components don't just come from Europe, but from all over the world," he said, explaining that for one dose, 280 are needed, which come from 86 suppliers in 19 countries.

Watch: Brussels tightens vaccine export rules to ensure jabs stay in the bloc

His comments come amid a fierce dispute Britain and the EU over export controls.

European leaders had threatened to block exports of the vaccine to Britain while demanding that AstraZeneca boost production on the Continent.

The export plan was vetoed, but EU officials said on Wednesday that no jabs would be shipped to the UK if AstraZeneca failed to meet its commitments to the bloc.

There have also been concerns in EU countries over side-effects from the vaccine.

On Wednesday, the EU's medical regulator told Germany and France that they had no reason to stop using AstraZeneca vaccines after its rollout was halted over concerns about a rare blood disease.

Europe's vaccine rollout has been slow, with France administering about 10.7m jabs, far fewer than the UK’s 30.9 million doses. Germany has delivered about 12.9m doses.

It comes as a third wave of the virus is spreading through Europe, with Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday announcing a month-long lockdown in France that includes school closures.

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine are the two jabs currently in rotation in the UK.

The UK Government began the roll-out of the Pfizer vaccine on Dec 8. Unlike the Pfizer vaccine, the Oxford jab does not require ultra-low temperatures.

The Pfizer vaccine blocks 94 per cent of asymptomatic cases, an Israeli study has shown.

The Israeli ministry of health found that the Pfizer vaccine has an efficacy of 97 per cent against disease and death and 94 per cent against infection without symptoms.

Watch: How vaccines are reducing COVID infection