Last checked at 
* Austria says faster action needed due to mutations
* Denmark argues capacity needs to be increased
* Other EU states have placed side orders with Russia, China
* Our vaccine strategy is not unravelling - European
Commission
(Updates with European Commission comment, vaccination
progress, companies invited to Austria talks)
By Francois Murphy and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen
VIENNA/COPENHAGEN, March 2 (Reuters) - Austria and Denmark,
chafing at the slow rollout of COVID-19 vaccines within the
European Union, have joined forces with Israel to produce
second-generation vaccines against mutations of the coronavirus.
The move by the two EU member states comes amid rising anger
over delays in ordering, approving and distributing vaccines
that have left the 27-member bloc trailing far behind Israel's
world-beating vaccination campaign.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said it was right that
the EU procures vaccines for its member states but the European
Medicines Agency (EMA) had been too slow to approve them and
lambasted pharmaceutical companies' supply bottlenecks.
"We must therefore prepare for further mutations and should
no longer be dependent only on the EU for the production of
second-generation vaccines," the conservative chancellor said in
a statement on Tuesday.
Danish Prime Minister Danish Mette Frederiksen was also
critical of the EU's vaccine programme.
"I don’t think it can stand alone, because we need to
increase capacity. That is why we are now fortunate to start a
partnership with Israel," she told reporters on Monday.
When asked whether Denmark and Austria wanted to take
unilateral action in obtaining vaccines, Frederiksen said: “You
can call it that.”
The European Commission said member states were free to
strike separate deals should they wish to. "It’s not that the
strategy unravelled or it goes against the strategy, not at
all," spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker said.
An EMA spokeswoman did not have an immediate comment.
FIRST MOVERS?
Kurz and Frederiksen are due to travel to Israel this week
to see Israel's rapid vaccine roll-out up close.
Israel, which was quick to sign contracts for and to approve
vaccines from U.S. drug makers Pfizer and Moderna
, has given 94 doses per 100 people and the EU just
seven, according to monitoring by Our World in Data.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made the campaign
a showcase of his bid for re-election on March 23, has spoken of
"an international corporation for manufacturing vaccines".
None of the three countries has significant vaccine making
capacity, however, raising questions over how realistic their
ambitions are to gain greater self-sufficiency.
A growing number of EU countries have placed side orders for
vaccines from Russia and China, even though the EMA has yet to
rule on whether they are both safe and effective.
Slovakia said on Monday it had ordered 2 million doses of
Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and expects half to arrive this month
to help it end a surge in infections.
The neighbouring Czech Republic - tackling the worst
COVID-19 outbreak of any EU country - is also considering
ordering Russia's Sputnik V.
Hungary, meanwhile, has taken delivery of a vaccine
developed by China's Sinopharm, with Prime Minister
Viktor Orban announcing on Sunday that he had received the shot.
The three vaccines so far cleared for use in the EU, made by
Pfizer and German partner BioNTech, Moderna and
AstraZeneca, rely on production in countries including
Germany, Britain, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Kurz said Austria and Denmark would work with Israel on
vaccine production against mutations of the coronavirus and
jointly research treatment options in an alliance called the
First Movers Group.
The initiative, which seeks greater protection against
future pandemics in addition to joint EU vaccine supply, follows
Germany's decision last month to set up a task force to address
supply bottlenecks and boost local manufacturing.
Kurz invited pharmaceutical companies with a local presence
including Pfizer, Valneva, Novartis, Polymun
and Boehringer Ingelheim on Tuesday to discuss the new
initiative.
Pfizer, which declined comment for this story, has said it
will make 2 billion doses this year - 70% of them in the EU -
and has conducted extensive research into their effectiveness
against coronavirus variants.
A spokesman for Boehringer Ingelheim said its focus was not
on human vaccines "but if we receive requests we will of course
look into them."
(Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels, Ludwig
Burger in Frankfurt and Robert Muller and Jason Hovet in Prague;
Writing by Douglas Busvine and Caroline Copley; Editing by
Philippa Fletcher)
