The European Commission said on Thursday (August 19) that after criticizing the arrangement, it has reached an interim agreement with South Africa to use its factories there to bottle Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine imported into the European Union.
On Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was “shocked” to hear Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines are exported from South Africa to the European Union, because the group’s vaccination rate is very high, and this is true for even the most vulnerable people in many African countries. Have not been vaccinated.
A spokesperson for the European Commission told reporters on Thursday that Johnson & Johnson reached an agreement with South Africa after it encountered problems in the production of vaccines at a plant belonging to its partner Emergent Biosolutions in the United States.
The deal highlights the complexity of producing vaccines from factories around the world and the ability of drugmakers to negotiate supply agreements with countries.
The arrangement means that South African drugmaker Aspen Pharmacare will bottle vaccines produced elsewhere (mainly in Europe) and then transfer the completed doses to South Africa and the European Union.
An EU spokesperson said that a Johnson & Johnson plant in Leiden, the Netherlands, is a major global producer of COVID-19 vaccines. Johnson & Johnson will begin to transfer all bottling operations from South Africa to Leiden from the end of September.
Johnson & Johnson did not immediately comment on its bottling business and the number of doses transferred from Aspen to the EU.
The New York Times reported on South Africa’s export of vaccines to the European Union on Monday, confirming the earlier public statements of South African Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa and Aspen.
The newspaper cited a confidential contract between Johnson & Johnson and the South African government and said the agreement prevented the country from imposing restrictions on vaccine exports against its will.
According to internal EU documents seen by Reuters, Johnson & Johnson has also negotiated a complex supply chain that involves US companies, despite the opposition of EU countries, under the contract with the EU.
Aspen is still bottling the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for South Africa, although officials in that country warned earlier this month that so far, the US drugmaker’s delivery has been slow.
CLost circle?
On Thursday, WHO’s comments on the mandatory export of Johnson & Johnson vaccines from South Africa eased. Marcidiso Morty, WHO’s regional director for Africa, said at a press conference that this arrangement is “probably” part of the investment in vaccine development and production in Africa.
The European Union is leading global investment to establish vaccine “centers” in Africa (including South Africa and Senegal) to improve the continent’s capacity to produce COVID-19 vaccines.
The Aspen plant does not appear to be among the Johnson & Johnson vaccine production bases approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
EMA declined to comment on whether Aspen has been authorized, saying this is confidential information. Johnson & Johnson did not comment, but the European Commission said late Thursday that Aspen is a recognized production base for the European market.
The European Commission added that EU countries that purchase Johnson & Johnson vaccines will decide what to do with vaccines imported from South Africa.
Public data from the European Union showed that as of Thursday, Johnson & Johnson had provided 21.5 million doses of vaccine to the European Union. It should ship 55 million units by the end of June.
Public data shows that of the delivered doses, only 12.9 million doses (about 60%) have been used in the EU. So far, among all EU-approved vaccines, the use rate is at least 75%. Pfizer/BioNTech The proportion of injections exceeds 90%.
Many EU countries have stopped using Johnson & Johnson due to health problems. The EU has pledged to donate at least 200 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to poorer countries by the end of the year, most of which are in Africa.
Johnson & Johnson said that the company did not participate in negotiations on the redistribution or donation of vaccines.
