Europe stands up to the United States with a vaccine alliance
Business correspondent
Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands want to join forces to secure a vaccine against the coronavirus. In doing so, they are standing against US President Trump, who is refraining from international cooperation
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The United States has already secured millions of doses of a possible corona vaccine from the leading pharmaceutical companies. Now several European countries are joining forces in order not to end up empty-handed.
The industrialized nations are increasingly positioning themselves in the search for a vaccine against the Covid 19 pandemic. While the United States has long secured promises from some of the largest vaccine manufacturers under President Donald Trump, Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands now want to join forces as soon as possible to ensure that Europe also has access to future vaccines.

It is planned to negotiate with the manufacturers in future in order to provide vaccines for the entire EU and to expand production capacities in Europe. One is already in "talks with several pharmaceutical companies" in order to "secure sufficient quantities for the EU and beyond", says the joint letter of the vaccine alliance, which is available to WELT AM SONNTAG.
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So far, Europe has been cautious on this issue. It was also hoped that the most powerful countries in the world would find a common solution to provide mankind with a vaccine as quickly as possible. That this was a mistake should have become clear at the latest at the pandemic donor conference of the EU Commission in early May.

At that time, the United States was the only one of the seven major industrialized nations not to contribute financially to the common goal of raising 7.5 billion euros to support vaccine projects against Covid-19. Instead, the United States has single-handedly entered into national agreements with the pharmaceutical industry.

At the British pharmaceutical company Astra Zeneca alone, which is working on a particularly promising vaccine together with researchers from Oxford University, the United States has invested around one billion euros in research, production and distribution of the future vaccine through its research agency Barda - and in this way has invested in it Confirmation of 300 million doses of vaccine secured. The UK government has access to an additional 100 million units.

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+ fee-based +++ A health care worker collects a blood sample in Munich, April 15, 2020. Germany was the first large democracy to contain the spread of the coronavirus and is now the first to methodically go about reopening its economy by testing for antibodies. (Laetitia Vancon / The New York Times)
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"We have a total production capacity to produce two billion vaccine doses and the first deliveries will begin in September 2020," says the company. One is in dialogue with European authorities "to ensure broad and fair access to vaccination within the EU and globally."

At the Sanofi vaccine company, which is working with competitor GlaxoSmithKline on a vaccine against Covid-19, the USA has invested $ 30 million through the Barda, which recently led Sanofi boss Paul Hudson to the statement - later collected - that the United States had lost control secured the right to the largest pre-order.

In Europe, the activities of the US agency have long been suspiciously followed. French President Emmanuel Macron has reportedly been pushing since spring to find a European answer to the Trump administration's isolated approach together with Germany.

Open to an expansion of the alliance
The government grants involve considerable financial risks, because the states are investing billions in vaccine projects that are far from clear whether they will achieve the desired success. But concerns about going empty-handed in the global race and having to explain to your own citizens why a vaccine is unfortunately not available have now brought European governments to action in Berlin, Paris, Rome and The Hague.

They will endeavor to have a "fair and transparent" process so that each EU member participating in the alliance receives a comparable share of the available vaccine, depending on the population size, it is said