Wuhan virus 2020

[Jimbuna]

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is visiting Scotland despite the country's first minister questioning whether the trip is necessary during lockdown.

The EU and the UK-based Covid vaccine maker AstraZeneca have vowed to work together to resolve a bitter row over supply shortages to the 27-member bloc.

Germany is likely to face a shortage of coronavirus vaccines until at least April, the country's health minister warns.

It would be "premature to imagine" lockdown restrictions in England will be lifted before 8 March, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove says.

Black MPs from across the UK political spectrum join together in a video encouraging people to get the coronavirus vaccine.

Imperial College London scientists tracking coronavirus in England say there are signs of a "shallow decline" in infection levels but they remain high.

And a World Health Organization team is out of quarantine and set for face-to-face meetings as part of their probe into the origins of the virus in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Wouldn't have been my choice of headline but this article pretty much sums up were we are presently imho.

The Us paid huge money, and early, and reaps the fruits of taking the risk.
The UK paid huge money, and went in early, and reaps the fruits of tkaing the risk.
Israel went all in early, and reaps the fruits of takign the risk.

Russia did likewise, earlier than any other.

But the Eu wanted:
- the perfect plan
- free of risks
- the perfect mix of national providers
- the perfect jabs
- protection for French industry interests
- no hurt feelings, only winners everywhere
- posing as superior planner itself
- saving little money
- while keepign all its options open.

It wanted the best effect imaginable for the lowest of costs imaginable, like little children want to eat only candies, and not having to give up anything for them.

And so we are where we are. The german lockdown costs short of 4 billion - per week. The vaccination goes hilariously slow. Hope the gains are worth the sacrifices, Germany, are you happy?

Well, in Germany people again and again vote for this kind fo superplanners. And it were the German chancellor whistling back her health minister when he wanted to buy nationally, and told him to tlel von der Leyen he is sorry and that instead the eU shpould run the European big solution.

Mockery and ridicule, well deserved!

Add to that the total, criminal failure to get a mass supplementation with Vitamin D running. Or even just an information campaign. Or even just a word on it on state propanagda media. Instead - NOTHING. Protect the profit interests of Big Pharma instead. Instead even try to prohibit the selling of supplements (Klöckner for the government in April in Brussels, Kühnast for the Greens in October in Berlin).

Mockery and ridicule. And the angriest of angers.

[Skybird]

And German newspaper "Die Welt" writes today (you can see the grin if you read carefully):

"
The well-known former columnist for the Daily Telegraph, England's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, also gave the Europeans a verbal pat. Although, measured against Johnson's earlier pitches, it was downright statesmanlike and reserved. On Wednesday afternoon, Johnson pointed out in the House of Commons that it would have been "a shame" if his country had joined the EU procurement program and not gone its own way. The casualness of his statement is striking.

"I think we were able to do things differently, and in some ways better," said Johnson, who the day before had to announce the sad mark of more than 100,000 Covid deaths in the UK. At least with a view to the British vaccination program, the conservative is undoubtedly right. 7.16 million Brits had already received their first vaccination by the middle of this week. Almost half a million of them even the second. Germany, on the other hand, is only slowly approaching the two million mark.
"

https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/...eer-leben.html

[Skybird]

German FOCUS writes:

https://translate.google.com/transla..._12919835.html

It is easy to invoke Europe's unity in Sunday speeches as having no alternative. But if Europe then cannot “deliver”, trust will wane. How great the loss of trust will be in the end cannot be measured today. In any case, this is also due to a communication like that of von der Leyens, which assumes its own structural faultlessness.

I repeat again, Super-Uschi's acting and behaviour copy the patterns that one has seen of her over the years in two different ressorts she headed as German minister. Big facade, big words, grippy slogans, jovial appearances. On the matters - failures, failures, failures. Insiders said she left the defence ministry behind in a worse condition than Guttenberg - and that really means something, that mark was hard to top. She was a desaster as minister.

Classical dazzler.

[mapuc]

I love it, while my Danish friends are getting more and more desperate-This is because the Danish Prime minister has extended the existing lock-down to Feb. 28. The youngest one-will soon be able to start in school.

The reason to this extending-is the British mutation-last week 8-something % had this mutation-This week 13-something % had it.

As said to my Danish friends. The Danish government will try to do anything so Denmark doesn't end where UK is now.

Markus

[Jimbuna]

[skidman]

EU sends inspectors to AstraZeneca plant

https://translate.google.com/transla...6-db00fed28a5d

[ikalugin]

@skybird

To be fair in Russia both business interests (vaccines sell during the pandemic, the project length is short - just couple of years etc) coincided with the national ones (vaccine being a prestige project).


So just good luck I guess.

[Catfish]

EU Commission head says AstraZeneca contract contains binding orders
(by Reuters Staff)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKBN29Y0LB

If i understand this right, Astra Zeneca is to produce the vaccine and distribute it evenly, wherever it is produced. If this is true, Johnson and the UK have once more shown their egoism in the vaccine "race". If not ...
Whatever is being said by either side, just show us the signed treaty and we will see

edit: "The EU wants to make a redacted version of the contract public later on Friday"

[Skybird]

Their word stands against the others' word on that. Pacta sund servanda, of course. But the pact has to be known to judge its content.

The conflict in the end is a showdown between London and Brussels, playing into Johnson'S hand who can pose and say: "No british lives for Europeans' lives", and the applaus of his people his certain for that.

What ot comes down to, is this: AZ can only prodfuce with plants it has, and with their capacity. The order in which customers orders early or lkate, decides on whom gets delivered first. Possible that AZ must pay penalties if it doe snot fulfill a signed obligation of it. For the eU, needing to compensate for its messy vaccination strategy by quick delivery now, this is hardly solace, becasue money it can print itself as much as it wants, if need be. But forst the content of the treaty must be known by the public.

Preferrably in a non-censored, blackened form.


One thing is sure, however. The Brits signed treaties long before the EU, and if later treaties with the EU alter treaties with the UK, this is a legal head-on collision, the UK will not need to allow having its own treaties unilaterally altered. In that case AZ would be responsible for the conflict by having made statements that it could not deliver on. Which again is of no solace for the EU.


You snooze, you lose.

[Skybird]

When Trump shopped for billions in vaccine, Europe slept the sleep of the righteous

https://translate.google.com/transla..._12922627.html

[Catfish]

^ ah yes, how well things are going thanks to Trump's foresight

[Skybird]

Its not talkign about some general "things running", its about the specific speed of the vaccination of the population. The US, the UK are much faster than Germany or the EU. They outperform Europe with vacicnation spüeed, becasue they prepared that better,m and earlier, and with much more money invested much earlier. It is absurd that Europeans now complain that the UK paid AZ higher prices for the vcaccine. Its absurd. Demand and saupply, dear Europeans. I recall that it was the same way last spring,k rergarding diretcly ordering FFP2 masks in China. Spahn did it conservatively, but the others send men with suitcases of money to factory gates and bought dleiveries at much higher costs directly there when they left the factory. Naive layman.

Meanwhile:





In German that is called a classical "Rohrkrepierer". If the eU hopes to prove with this that it has demand for British vaccine reserves by AZ, it shows how desperate they are and how weak their arugments are. The above is - nothing. Until here, game and set for AZ. Not one word that AZ is obliged to reduce production obligations for other customers signing earlier in order to compensate for the losses in their European facilities (which would be a violation of their obligations towards these customers, btw. You cannot unilaterally alter treaty conditions as you want).

Not the first negotation failure by Super-Uschi. Its a common thread that runs through her full career: badly negotiated treaties and deals.

The EU sees something that is not there.

[Jimbuna]

EU publishes disputed AstraZeneca Covid jab contract.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-55852698

Key part of the contract on what the EU and #AstraZeneca are at odds over - the ‘Best Reasonable Efforts’ clause.

AZ says it’s not binding on the numbers of the vaccines, instead it’s based on best efforts.

EU says it is binding.

Best Reasonable Efforts. That to me sounds that as long as AZ can prove they have indeed made their best reasonable effort then they’re not in breach. The EU say they are entitled because they invested in it, well so did the U.K. and they ordered 3 months prior.

Yesterday the EU said: "We remain always open to engage with AstraZeneca to resolve this in a spirit of collaboration and responsibility"

The very same day they raided #AstraZeneca's vaccine site in Belgium.

[Jimbuna]

The Covid-19 vaccine developed by Janssen is 66% effective, the Belgian company has announced.

An international trial looked at giving just one dose of the vaccine, which makes it significantly easier to roll out than those requiring two.

The UK has already pre-ordered 30m doses.

The news comes shortly after Novavax announced their jab was 89% effective. Both will need to be reviewed by regulators before they can be used.

Janssen, a pharmaceutical company owned by Johnson & Johnson, is also investigating whether giving two doses will give either stronger or longer-lasting protection.

The company said its initial findings showed one dose prevented 85% of severe cases.

However part of the trial in South Africa, where a new version of the coronavirus is spreading. found it was just 57% effective.

Dr Paul Stoffels, the chief scientific officer at Johnson & Johnson, said that would "potentially protect hundreds of millions of people from serious and fatal outcomes of

Covid-19".

The company is aiming to make one billion doses this year.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55857530