The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on Monday 18 October that the EU had exported more than one billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine.
“Very clearly, the EU is the largest exporter of Covid-19 vaccines. [...] We have exported as much as we have delivered for our European citizens”, she said.
The one billion doses include those given to low- and middle-income countries through the Covax scheme (87 million) and those exported.
Of these, 837 million are under the Covid-19 vaccine export mechanism, which requires authorisation. The remaining doses were sold either before the mechanism came into force on 30 January or to partner countries that are not subject to such an export authorisation.
Only one export licence application out of more than 2,700 has been refused since the system was introduced. The latter remains in place until the end of the year (see EUROPE 12802/19).
In addition, the Commission President said that the EU expects to provide at least another 500 million doses to vulnerable countries through Covax.
Lifting of patents
Debate is intensifying around the lifting of intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines as the 12th World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference (MC12) approaches. The EU maintains its position that lifting patents is not a magic bullet to increase the distribution of vaccines in the least developed countries.
At the WTO, members in favour and against the lifting of the ban are still unable to agree on a solution. According to a Geneva source, however, the Chairman of the WTO’s trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights council (TRIPS), Dagfinn Sorli, sees some signs of optimism in the fact that several members are in bilateral discussions on the issue. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)