Coronavirus live news: Brazil suffers record daily deaths; EU to tighten vaccine export guidelines
Brazil Covid deaths pass 3,000 for first time; EU to tighten export rules to stop one-way flow of vaccines; new US surgeon general to focus on Covid, opioids
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The EU is in the process of finalising emergency legislation that will give it the power to “curb exports for the next six weeks of vaccines manufactured within the bloc,” the New York Times reports.
The legislation will be made public on Wednesday and will make it harder for pharmaceutical companies to export vaccines manufactured in the bloc – which is bad news for the UK:
The European Union is finalizing emergency legislation that will give it broad powers to curb exports for the next six weeks of Covid-19 vaccines manufactured in the bloc, a sharp escalation in its response to supply shortages at home that have created a political maelstrom amid a rising third wave on the continent.
The draft legislation, which is set to be made public on Wednesday, was reviewed by The New York Times and confirmed by two E.U. officials involved in the drafting process. The new rules will make it harder for pharmaceutical companies producing Covid-19 vaccines in the European Union to export them and is likely to disrupt supply to Britain.
The European Commission will tighten its export guidelines on Wednesday to prevent what it sees as an unfair one-way flow of vaccines, according to a draft seen by AFP.
Brussels has been infuriated that Britain has laid claim to vaccines produced at a plant in the Netherlands by AstraZeneca, while the UK-based firm falls short on deliveries promised to the EU.
Read the original article at The Guardian