I really hope my answer doesn't come over as rude. But I really have the feeling that your anger is the result of some poisonous media in the UK...
BaconButty wrote:And you keep on going on about exports. I couldn't care less. The reality is, an EU trade surplus in vaccines is by design. You bragging about it is like us bragging how we sell fighters to Saudi - without them selling us a single one back! The EU is a neoliberal organization - it enshrines those "values" - it cannot see value in anything other than cash. And that showed when it came to the negotiations - cheapest price, no liability, domestic production and those sweet, sweet exports. European hard nationalists convincing themselves that because they valued jobs over lives, they deserve a pat on the back that they've changed their mind, it's propaganda die Sturmer would have been proud of.
On your remark comparing exporting killing machines to life saving devices I won't say more (of course the EU is also a huge arms dealer)
I don't think anyone could argue about the EU being a neoliberal organization. But as for US and the UK, they only will to be able to be something else when the majority of people want to be something else. But for me the EU is more (free movement of people for example). And while you only see greed in the exports, I see the value of being together and sharing.
Of course, the EU is interested in having a strong technological and industrial base, as are countries all over the world. But where I really have difficulty to follow you is when you say "they valued jobs over lives".
Since when should "cheapest price, no liability" not be something all should try to get when negotiating with huge multi-billion companies. If your point is that this is the reason for the slow vaccination start in the EU, I have to disagree.
I actually even think it is quite possible that the early British vaccination start was agreed between the UK, EU and Pfizer/BioNTech (of course I have no source, since it is my own theory). Most of the early vaccine used in Britain was Pfizet/BioNTech from European factories and AZ only started to really kick in around mid January. Having only this little supply available, had the EU stared around the same time as the UK, those jabs would have been split between 500 Mio people instead of 65 Mio and resulted in are really poor start for all.
If you now superpose daily infections and death for the UK and the 5 biggest EU-states (Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland) and compare what was happening in December, it doesn't seem far streched to suppose that an early and fast ramping up vaccination campaign in Britain would safe the most life. Especially since a concentrate campaign in only one EU-state wouldn't have been possible.
This would also explain why the EU was furious when Pfizer/BioNTech announced a temporary short fall in delivery (for some adjustment in the Belgian factory) just as the member states were ramping up vaccination. And even more furious when AZ announced they will fall massively short of their target for Q1.
I'm really interested to know if in the future some journalist will confirm my theory or if this is just my pro EU bias trying to find a reason for what many consider a failure from the EU and wrong proof that the purchase negotiations were a failure. (I have to confess that if I had been a European leader, I would have agreed to such a deal - some might think it is good that I'm no EU leader).
I applaud the EU for allowing exports, and for this I really can't understand your stance of "they valued jobs over lives". Vaccinating the world's older people as fast as possible will save the most lives.
And despite many arguing otherwise, I strongly belive the EU will not fail to hold up its commitments and keep allowing exports. The UK will keep getting its deliveries of Pfizer/BioNTech from European factories and soon add Moderna (also more or less from Europe with Swiss help) and likely even some AZ if needed. (I would be disappointed if the EU doesn't keep to its commitment, a position I already have taken in my previous posts)
BTW when I started reading this thread, I viewed the British approach more negatively, believing it had much bigger vaccine production capabilities (as many still do judging by comments in UK and Swiss newspaper). But by reading several sources I got much more nuanced picture, and as I have stated many time, I like how AZ is expending production all over the world.
We need both, nRMA vaccine production that can rapidly be expanded in a few specialized locations, and more conventional vaccines that can be produced all over the world.
Best regards, and hoping all the British will be vaccinated soon,
Jonas