BRUSSELS, Jan 29 (Reuters) - The European Commission said on
Friday it had agreed a plan to control exports of vaccines from
the European Union by monitoring and authorisation, saying that
the programme would run until the end of March.
EU trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told a news
conference the export controls were "time limited and
specifically applied to those COVID-19 vaccines that were agreed
by advanced purchase agreements." Most of the EU's neighbours
and poorer countries are exempted, Dombrovskis said.
The European Union has publicly rebuked Anglo-Swedish
AstraZeneca for failing to deliver vaccine shots as promised,
with a shortfall of up to 60% in the first quarter. EU countries
have also received fewer deliveries of the Pfizer-BioNTech and
Moderna vaccines than expected.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop and Robin Emmott)