Thread by @DaveKeating

There’s a new #vaccine conflict brewing.

Johnson & Johnson wants to send vaccines its made in the EU to the US for packaging, before sending it back.

The problem? US vaccine export restrictions could allow the US to take those vaccines for itself.
bloombergquint.com/business/j-j-r…

EU governments are worried about this and have asked the Commission whether the J&J vial finishing could be done in the EU.

But Bloomberg reports that a senior EU official told ambassadors that doing some fill and finish in the US was *a condition of the J&J contract*. 😲

Serious questions will be asked about why the Commission would allow a contract that seems to force a vaccine to go back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean for no reason.

Trust between the EU and these foreign pharma giants is breaking down.

The EU could use its new export restriction mechanism to stop the J&J vaccines from going to the US for finishing. But that may violate contract.

The US has had a vaccine export ban since December, but it's never been used (because no vaccines exported).
dw.com/en/coronavirus…

Interestingly, a fear of US export restrictions is reportedly exactly what drove Matt Hancock to reject Oxford's tie-up with US pharma giant Merck and force them to partner with a British company.

Should EU be doing the same with EU-developed vaccines? news.sky.com/story/covid-19…