Germany Initiates COVID-19 Vaccine Development Alliance Of 4 EU Countries - Reports

Germany Initiates COVID-19 Vaccine Development Alliance of 4 EU Countries - Reports

Germany is set to launch an alliance of four European Union member states to secure access to COVID-19 vaccines for the EU after they will become available amid worries that China and the United States might secure large amounts of such vaccines first, the German Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Thursday

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th June, 2020) Germany is set to launch an alliance of four European Union member states to secure access to COVID-19 vaccines for the EU after they will become available amid worries that China and the United States might secure large amounts of such vaccines first, the German Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Thursday.

According to the newspaper, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands decided to join forces to ensure the availability of coronavirus vaccines for Europeans. Handelsblatt reported that German Health Minister Jens Spahn, together with his counterparts in three other countries, wrote to the European Commission and said that the development of the vaccine was one of the most pressing issues for the bloc.

Berlin is worried that Washington and Beijing may try to control the purchases of potential coronavirus vaccines, according to Handelsblatt.

Germany is in talks with international pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, which is working on the experimental vaccine. However, the US has already secured nearly a third of the first one billion doses planned by AstraZeneca, after pledging $1.2 billion for the company's research.

Four EU members might be negotiating with other countries regarding the issue, including Japan, Singapore and the United Kingdom, the newspaper reported.

In mid-May, US President Donald Trump said that Washington aimed to deliver vaccines by the end of 2020, adding that they would be priced fairly for foreign countries if the US would produce the vaccines first.