Wuhan virus 2020

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Catfish

But the EU's contract with AstraZeneca -- which Brussels published on Friday -- states that doses for the bloc could indeed come from a supply chain that includes UK-based plants. Equally, the UK is receiving doses from Europe as well -- a person familiar with the matter said that the UK is still receiving small numbers of vaccines made in European plants, and that its initial doses had come from Europe too.

See, this is where you - and others - imply wrong things. Namely that while the contract describes the option to use UK plants to deliver to the EU as well, this necessarily means that theymust even be used if their capacity already is used and reserved elsewise. But where is this said? As I read it, it is about the option if the option is available, not more. And obviously the UK plants are occupied with fullfilling AZ's obligations with the UK that have been signed months before.

The eU also tries to stirr emotions over that the UK paid a higher price at AZ, as if the EU has any claim that the UK must lower its chnaces and not pay more than the EU had paid in its order months later. Has it come to anyones mind in brussles that the UK maybe agreed to pay a higher price to secure certain benefits for that in return? For exampel that production capacities reserved for its treaty fulfillment cannot be distracted at the UK's expense to serve other customers?

The eu makes it appear as if that were "unfair". No it is not unfair, it is how a treaty gets negotiated, and the eu negotiated late, and bad, and now wants to distract from its own responsibility for that, accusing others for it sown failure. I remind of that a few weeks back the CEO of Biontech wondered in public about the EU havign been offered an additional treaty on additional delivery of doses - and additional means additonal to the existing trety plus its ioncldued option for an extension, an option that the eU had already pulled at that tiem and then used to publicly criticise the BionTech CEO and saying that the eU already had ordered additonally. That was a distortion of the facts. The EU had pulled that treaty option yes - but Biontech offered an additional treaty for even more, early January - and the eU rejected that. I assume the problem was that Biontech wanted to get paid and did not want to dolpeuver for free, and the EU did not want to "waste" money there. Chaotic. Dilettantic. Stupid. Irresponsible. How much money is beign wasted with the lockdown? 4 billion per week. No matter the price demanded by companies, it would still have been much cheaper to accept their prices.

Absurd, absurd, absurd. I posted several sources illustrating how absurd it is, haven't I. Even that EU expert said in that interview that the EU acted badly, and has already in the past laid the fundament for the weak vaccine production capacities in Europe by slashing budgets and driving talents and experts away.

Its a pattern with Super-Uschi. In her times as ministress, time and again it later came to light how badly the treaties she had to accept responsibility for, were designed, formulated, and how costly they were. Namely on external advisers, but also on topic-related issues in the Bundeswehr. But she made a big show of having installed cosmtics mirrors in locker doors for soldiers. That illustrates her puzzling priorities. She is always good for catchy slogans and posing before cameras, but not for deep thinking something through. A dazzler.

It should never have become a topic for the EU anyway, the EU is not responsible for national health policy. But merkel wanted to abuse the crisis to hammer another nail into the gallow for Europe and get the EU claiming more administrative powers for the wanted superstate EU. The thing backfired. I wish it would not just backfire, but explode.


The Greens in Germany now fantasize about nationalising pharmaceutical companies and put their production facilities directly under state command. Who said the GDR is a thing of the past? If I were a company owner olr entrepreneur, I would know what I would do next. Germany, and the eU, alkready has an undeniable brain drain. The fleeing of business competence will flee next. As a matter of fact it already has started.

[skidman]

Originally Posted by Catfish

And now this, an hour ago
(translation by Google)

The manufacturer Astrazeneca is now delivering more vaccine to the European Union in the first quarter than last announced.

Sounds good, but the whole matter is still fishy. AZ should put their cards on the table, that is: Publish reliable information on

- how many cans are produced at the moment and in near future

- how many units were promised to be delivered to the different contracting parties in this timeframe

As long as AZ refuses to make this information available I am not convinced the EU gets a fair share. And in case of an overriding public importance the company should be forced (by the UK government) to publish these data.

[Buddahaid]

Didn't I read they were not at liberty to do so by contract.

[skidman]

I honestly don't know, you might be right. I still wonder why a company that says they put their effort into development of the jab without commercial interest would not make it available in a fair and transparent manner.

AFAIK the WHO until now has purchased 40 million cans of different vaccines available. 40 million units for the poorest 4bn people on this planet. I'd like to see the EU offering a share of the cans delivered to us to third world countries at our expense.

[Skybird]

https://www.focus.de/politik/ausland..._12929601.html

Vaccination dispute: Boris Johnson made von der Leyen collapse with two phone calls

On Friday the EU Commission announced that it would not export 3.5 million vaccine doses from Belgium to Great Britain. Prime Minister Boris Johnson reacted indignantly and quickly got Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to back down.

Boris Johnson apparently only needed two phone calls within 30 minutes to get EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to withdraw the delivery stop of the corona vaccine to Great Britain.
The EU had previously announced that it would not export 3.5 million doses of Biontech / Pfizer's vaccine from Belgium to Great Britain - delivery across the inner-Irish border should also be prevented. On Friday evening, the commission published a document that is intended to regulate export controls on vaccines. It said that the EU could rely on an emergency mechanism in the Brexit agreement - Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol - to control whether and how much vaccine crosses the border from Ireland to British Northern Ireland.

Prime Minister Johnson then warned that such an export stop could endanger the fragile peace within Ireland and called an emergency meeting with his cabinet. Then he phoned von der Leyen. According to the British newspaper "Daily Mail" Johnson von der Leyen warned that by acting she risked denying millions of pensioners their second vaccination.

Half an hour later, von der Leyen finally gave in on the second phone call. The talks were "constructive", she wrote on Twitter. “We have agreed on the principle that there should be no restrictions on the export of vaccines by companies if they meet their contractual obligations,” von der Leyen continued.

According to the Daily Mail, the British government had already drawn up emergency plans before the talks to “break” any EU blockade. As part of a “vaccination safety maneuver”, developed from no-deal Brexit plans, the vaccination doses could have been flown from the EU to Great Britain in a kind of airlift.

Outrage over von der Leyen's original move was widespread across all political camps in Britain. Northern Ireland's Prime Minister Arlene Foster of the Protestant Unionist DUP even spoke of an “incredibly hostile and aggressive act”. The government in Dublin, which did not consult Brussels, was also angry. "It is as if they absolutely wanted to convince everyone who had voted to remain in the EU that Brexit was a good idea after all," a British news anchor summed up the mood. It didn't help that Brussels rowed back within hours.
Not only in Great Britain, doubts about the ability of the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were raised in the opinion columns. The German shot an “unforgettable Brexit own goal”, summarized the “Welt”, for example. The World Health Organization described the plans as "worrying".

Britain, on the other hand, posted a daily record of first vaccinations after Johnson's diplomatic victory: 600,000 Britons were vaccinated against the coronavirus on Saturday . The total number of vaccinations is now almost 9 million. For comparison: in Germany there are just a little more than 1.8 million and in other EU member states it hardly looks better.
Great Britain is impressively ahead with its vaccination campaign. Especially well ahead of the European Union. Last year, the government in London had to take criticism for not wanting to participate in the EU's joint procurement program. It is now being celebrated at home for it.

A legal position that clear and strong as the EU claims, does not collapse that easily and quickly. It also must not appeal to fairness. Treaties are not about fairness, but paragraphs included.

[Skybird]

The headlines in Germany become increasingly condemmning of the German dilletantism and the EU incompetence. And this across all the spectrum of papers. Thze failure of German and EU poltiicans is too mobvious. They messed it up, due to lack of realism and competence. Idiots at the helm means you receive orders to board a submarine not without parachutes.
But this time their disconnection from relait yis not just costing money. This time it kills lives.

But German minister Altmeier rightously said: "I cannot see we made any grave mistakes." Drop dead, mister.

https://www.focus.de/politik/deutsch..._12930981.html

In the vaccination drama, the EU becomes an "inefficient monster": is the national state now returning?

The contrasts couldn't be greater: Boris Johnson's Great Britain is vaccinated and wants to be "through" by the summer. On the other hand, Ursula von der Leyen's European Union, who, due to wrong decisions, ensures that an entire continent falls behind. Not much is left of the founding promise of the EU. We are experiencing: a gradual return of the national state.

It is always said now: After Corona nothing will be the same as it was before Corona. It can be. The only problem: you don't know - not when, not who, not where. But in the meantime it no longer seems impossible that, what should we call it, well - even the tectonics of the states in Europe could change. Right now we can literally watch the European Union lose confidence. People are looking more at their own governments again. They experience that “Brussels” can even be a dangerous place for them. Are we facing a return of the nation states?


Brexit: There could hardly have been a better justification than the European vaccination disaster

The contrast could hardly be greater. On the one hand the British nation-state. This - led by a charismatic prime minister who is often called "controversial" in Germany - vaccinates his population in a kind of national effort and can now proclaim: In the summer we will be "through". And on the other hand, the European Union, a collection of often divided countries, led by a kind of government that, due to wrong decisions, ensures that an entire continent is falling behind.

There could hardly have been a better justification for Brexit than the European vaccination disaster. If that is to be the expression of vaccination nationalism - apparently the British have done far better with it than the Europeans with their model of bureaucratic multilateralism. "We were, are and will be better off - outside of this clumsy, inefficient monster," commented the British "Mail on Sunday" venomously.

Late on Friday there was a showdown between the representatives of both systems - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Brussels Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The Briton, "Brexit-Boris", needed two phone calls to fight the German European. The Brussels plan to stop the delivery of vaccines from Europe to Great Britain and also to use the agreements on the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland was then off the table. Two arguments were enough for Johnson to reduce the Brussels ideas to stop the export of 3.5 million doses of the Biontech / Pfizer active ingredient from Belgium to absurdity.

Vaccination dispute with von der Leyen: It was Johnson's "Falkland moment"

Johnson asked whether Brussels was really interested in a flare-up in the Northern Ireland conflict. After all, that would be a kind of nuclear bomb. Second, the Brussels plan means that thousands of British pensioners cannot get their second vaccination. Whether Brussels really wants to take responsibility for a lot of dead. Von der Leyen didn't want to.

Conservative MPs later expressed their euphoria about Johnson's negotiation success: That was Johnson's “Falkland moment”. In 1982 Argentina occupied the Falkland Islands offshore but belonging to Great Britain. The Conservative British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sent the Navy and expelled the Argentines again. “Falklands” became another symbol of British national pride.

The dispute - the Commission in Brussels led it to the point of a vaccination war - was triggered by the conflict between the European bureaucracy and the British-Swedish vaccine manufacturer Astrazeneca. The EU Commission finally published the contract with the company. It turned out that the clauses in the contract are by no means as hard and clear as von der Leyen and her health commissioner had claimed.

The contract speaks of “best reasonal efforts” 18 times, loosely translated as delivery to the best of our knowledge and belief. Waxy clauses. You look in vain for contractual penalties as well as for mandatory production capacities. Bild quotes the SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach as follows: “I am surprised that the EU has not secured any permanent production capacities in the Astrazeneca plants. The EU must renegotiate. "

Contracts signed too late: The same mistake as with Astrazeneca threatens the EU with Novavax

Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder had previously complained: It could not be that pharmaceutical companies “can” lead the EU at its nose around in this way. They “can do” it, Söder alluded to, because the EU apparently concludes bad treaties. The same mistake as with Astrazeneca threatens with the next promising vaccine, the American Novavax. Although Novavax, together with the vaccine from Biontech / Pfizer and Moderna, was one of the most effective in the summer, the EU only signed contracts again late. Lauterbach tweeted: “The EU has the same problem here as with Moderna. Very strong US vaccine late / no contracts. "(Lauterbach must have been so angry that he apparently couldn't find time for punctuation marks ...)

As a reminder: In the spring, the mistrust of the EU Commission and its ability to procure enough vaccine on time was so great that four countries - Germany was one of them - formed a vaccination alliance. This called on other countries to protest against it. Finally, this four-party alliance was dissolved and the negotiations were transferred to the EU Commission, also under pressure from the German Chancellor and EU Commission President von der Leyen. From then on, a lot went wrong, as CSU boss Markus Söder points out as the only leading Union politician from the beginning until today.

Seehofer demands travel restrictions, Orban buys Sputnik V, Söder wants to reach out to Russians - is the EU capitulating?

The lack of a vaccine leads to a kind of lockdown yo-yo in Germany and to growing criticism of the federal government's vaccination strategy. We should once again remember the founding promise of the European Union: together, for the good of the people on the continent, we will certainly be able to achieve more than any individual state. Not much is left of this promise. We are experiencing: a gradual return of the nation state. Germany recently announced drastic travel restrictions - a national solo effort. Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer argued unexpectedly aggressively: After all, a European solution is not to be expected on this issue.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who enjoys a kind of pariah status in Brussels, single-handedly bought vaccine from the Russians and the Chinese. Their vaccines are not approved in the European Union, which Orban - Hungary is a member of the EU - did not prevent this step. Also, Serbia - not an EU member - did not want to leave at EU and UN commitments - and bought one with the Russians Sputnik and the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine. Serbia is currently the European vaccination champion.

The amalgamation of states is lagging behind, nation states are doing better. In the meantime, the first German top politician has called for Russians and Chinese to be approached when they are in need of vaccinations: Markus Söder. This would be tantamount to capitulating the European Union. But as Söder says, as simple as it is brutal: The results are decisive.

[Jimbuna]

Door-to-door testing for the South African coronavirus variant is to start in Surrey after cases with no known links to travel or previous cases were found.

A coronavirus vaccine has now been offered to residents at every eligible care home in England, the NHS says.

PM Boris Johnson says it’s a "crucial milestone" as a government target to vaccinate the most vulnerable people looms.

It aims to offer jabs to 15 million people by 15 February - those aged 70 and over, healthcare workers and people required to shield.

Captain Sir Tom Moore, who raised millions for the NHS, is in hospital after testing positive for Covid.

Drug firm AstraZeneca will now supply an extra nine million vaccine doses to the EU by March, the bloc says.

The 40m doses now expected for the EU are still only about half of what had been hoped, amid continuing supply problems.

Globally, 102 million Covid cases have been recorded and 2.2 million people have died with the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University.

[Jimbuna]

The European Commission has acknowledged it made a mistake when it triggered an emergency provision in the Brexit deal to block Covid-19 vaccine exports to the UK.

“Only the Pope is infallible,” Eric Mamer, the chief spokesman for commission President Ursula von der Leyen, says.

The important thing, he adds, is that the error was “quickly rectified”.

The EU reversed its decision to invoke Article 16 of the Brexit agreement hours after it was announced, following condemnation from London, Dublin and Belfast.

The move could have seen checks at the border of Ireland and Northern Ireland to prevent shipments entering the UK.

The plans had been part of the EU's new export controls on vaccines, to combat delivery shortfalls.

The plans were made after AstraZeneca, citing production problems, said there would be a shortfall in vaccine deliveries to the EU.

France has been unusually critical - some would say defensive - about the vaccination programme unrolling across the Channel.

The UK has vaccinated almost nine million people. France fewer than 1.5 million - and it has scaled back its target this month, because of delays in vaccine deliveries.

Those delays have only increased the pressure felt in Brussels and other European capitals to explain why the picture looks so different in the UK.

So, was the UK’s early vaccination success an advert for Brexit?

Not at all, France’s Europe minister said in response to the question on the radio this morning.

The UK government was vaccinating more people because it was taking “a lot of risks” in spreading out the two jabs and in using the vaccine for older people; risks, he said, that the French government and French people would not want to take.

Even President Macron weighed in last week with his own doubts about the effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the over 65s, suggesting other vaccines seemed to perform better.

Amid frustration over disrupted supplies, and accusations of sour grapes, a lot is hanging on what France’s own medical authority will say about the AstraZeneca vaccine on Tuesday.

In Hungary, bars and restaurants say they intend to defy the Covid lockdown and reopen today. There will also be a protest march in Budapest.

Pakistan has received its first tranche of coronavirus vaccines, with the arrival of a donation of 500,000 doses, produced by the Chinese state-owned company Sinopharm.

South Africa, public patience over a lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus seems to be fraying.

Over the weekend, scores of people protested at beaches in Cape Town, calling for them to be re-opened.

The organisers accused the government of “being unconstitutional” for closing the beaches.

Law-enforcement officers dispersed the crowds but did not make any arrests.

[Jimbuna]

The UK has ordered an extra 40 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine from the French pharmaceutical company Valneva, that should become available later in the year and into 2022.

The government says it will give some flexibility should people need re-vaccinating next winter or beyond.

The UK has secured 407 million doses of different coronavirus vaccines - more than enough for the entire population.

Valneva's jab is still being tested in trials.

Although those will take time to satisfy regulators before it can be rolled out, manufacturing at a site in West Lothian, Scotland, has already begun.

[ikalugin]

I am not sure if the data for Russia is current, but it is unclear how many people have already been vaccinated sadly.

[Skybird]

The criminal lawyer Volker Erb calls for an export ban on vaccine doses made in Germany. Otherwise, the Mainz professor writes in an expert report, the responsible politicians could commit manslaughter by omission. Volker Erb hesitated for a long time to make his legal expertise on the corona crisis public. The 56-year-old is a legal scholar and holds the Chair of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. His list of publications is extensive; He is co-editor of major commentaries on the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure, so he has a reputation to lose. The professor does not want to be instrumentalized politically - especially not by forces who doubt the danger of the Covid-19 virus. On the other hand, he also feels it is his responsibility to bring his point of view as a criminal lawyer into the debate. So at the beginning of the year he first wrote a letter addressed to the Chancellery and the Federal Ministry of Health. An expert opinion was attached in which Erb pointed out to the federal government that their approach to obtaining vaccines could possibly be punishable. To this day he has not received an answer.


- Die Welt, limited access. The above is not the full article. -

[Jimbuna]

[Platapus]

Catlin Doughty, hosts a YouTube channel called "Ask a Mortician". Normally her videos are educational, entertaining, and rather funny. I recommend checking out her channel.


However, this video is not funny. In this video she is discussing the impact of COVID-19 from the mortuary industry viewpoint. It is not a happy video and you can tell that she is barely able to keep her emotions under control. She does get a little preachy concerning the California/LA government, but I can't say that I disagree about what she is saying.


It is an interesting viewpoint.

[Jimbuna]

[Jimbuna]