© Provided by The GuardianPhotograph: Dean Lewins/EPA
Australia has asked for a review of Italy's decision to block the export of 250,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to its shores.
In the first such intervention under the EU's controversial export authorisation scheme, the Italian government said the doses must remain in the bloc with the backing of the European commission.
The move has alarmed those concerned that the EU is moving towards a protectionist approach to vaccine supply. The commission has repeatedly and publicly insisted that it did not intend to impose a ban.
Australia's health minister, Greg Hunt, said he had made contact with the commission over the intervention. "Australia has raised the issue with the European commission through multiple channels, and in particular we have asked the European commission to review this decision," he told reporters in Melbourne.
© Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPAAustralia's prime minister, Scott Morrison, said the country's vaccine programme 'will continue unabated'.
Hunt said Australia had already received 300,000 doses of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine, which would last until local production of the vaccine ramps up.
Australia's prime minister, Scott Morrison, played down the impact of Italy's decision to block the export.
"This particular shipment was not one we'd counted on for the rollout, and so we will continue unabated," he said. "In Italy, people are dying at the rate of 300 a day. And so I can certainly understand the high level of anxiety that would exist in Italy and in many countries across Europe. They are in an unbridled crisis situation. That is not the situation in Australia."
The EU has been engaged in high-profile row with AstraZeneca after the company informed officials of a shortfall in deliveries this quarter due to a production problem in one of its EU sites.
A mechanism under which vaccine suppliers would need to gain authorisation for exports out of the EU was drawn up amid concerns that doses made within the bloc were being delivered to the UK.
The commission had insisted for weeks that the mechanism was primarily about transparency. But Ursula von der Leyen, the commission president, had privately assured the 27 EU heads of state and government at a summit last week that exports would be prevented in cases where suppliers were not fulfilling their contractual obligations.
Video: Australia asks European Commission to review Italy's vaccine block (Reuters)
Australia asks European Commission to review Italy's vaccine block
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AstraZeneca has production sites in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. Australia has purchased 53m doses from the company, which are due to be distributed this month. The vaccine has the advantage of being able to be kept in normal refrigerated conditions rather than in freezers.
AstraZeneca had made deliveries to Italy last week that were about 10-15% lighter than expected. But the company had insisted it would respect its commitment to supply the country with 4.2m doses in the first quarter of the year.
Related: Germany vaccine body says over-65s should get AstraZeneca jab
The Italian government, under its new prime minister, Mario Draghi, formerly president of the European Central Bank, had nevertheless notified the commission at the end of the week of its intentions and received Brussels' backing. He had voiced his concerns that the EU was not being stricter on exports during the leaders' summit.
Italy's foreign ministry said in a statement that Australia was not considered to be a vulnerable country and that the decision was made due to the "persistence of the vaccine shortage in the EU and Italy, the delays in supply of AstraZeneca vaccines to the EU and Italy and the very high number of doses" that the company wanted to export.
On Friday, France's health minister, Olivier Véran, said his government could follow suit given the shortage of doses in Europe.
Bernd Lange, the German MEP who chairs the European parliament's trade committee said the move was a mistake that others would now emulate.
He tweeted: "Pandora's box opened. Mistake. Carte blanche for imitators. Could have fatal consequences, eg on supply chains. Prelude to global battle over Covid-19 vaccines? Escalation inevitable."
The EU has approved about 150 requests for the export of vaccines since it established its authorisation mechanism, with only Italy so far having rejected such a request.
The export authorisation mechanism has been criticised for adding an extra layer of bureaucracy to the production and distribution of vaccines.
AstraZeneca was due to provide 120m doses of its vaccine to the EU in the first quarter of this year but was only able to commit to 40m due to yield issues at its site in Belgium.
The commission had been furious that the company then refused to redirect doses made in its two UK plants in Staffordshire and Oxford to the EU.
Under its agreement with Oxford university, which devised the vaccine, the company was bound to use doses made in those sites in the UK first, before fulfilling its other orders.
One EU diplomat said: "Italy has sent a crystal clear message to AstraZeneca: Contracts are to be honoured. AstraZeneca's vaccine delivery to the EU will fall short by more than 60 million doses in the first quarter of 2021 alone putting at risk the lives of 30 million EU citizens.
"Being in this situation, not making up for it, not even offering excuses to the people they have led down and then asking for an export authorisation is a very brazen move. Italy rightly stopped it."
The EU has a total order of 400m doses with AstraZeneca. Germany, France and Belgium are among EU countries that have in recent days changed their guidance on the vaccine to recommend it for all age groups.