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Scott Morrison has fired a warning shot at the European Union following revelations tighter export controls could be imposed on overseas vaccine shipments.
The Prime Minister on Friday revealed he was yet to receive a response to Australia’s request for one million doses of their contracted AstraZeneca vials to help Papua New Guinea contain its ballooning COVID-19 outbreak.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen received the letter on Wednesday, with a spokeswoman confirming the EC would “reply in due time”.
But Mr Morrison said Australia would be taking the issue up “very strongly”.
“It is not right for advanced countries in Europe to deny the supply of vaccines to developing countries who need it desperately like Papua New Guinea,” he said.
“We’ll do our bit. We’ll pay the freight, as we are, and for the product.
“They won’t be out of pocket, but they will be helping a country that is in desperate need of receiving those vaccines.”
Mr Morrison said Australian authorities were working closely with its quad partners – the US, Japan and India – on the issue of access to vaccines for PNG, adding they have made a commitment to the Indo-Pacific.
The toughened stance comes after Ms von der Leyen this week threatened to ban overseas vaccine shipments to safeguard enough doses for European citizens.
Trade Minister Dan Tehan said European export controls had already prevented some of the AstraZeneca vials from Italy coming to Australia earlier this month.
“We’ve taken that up with the European Union,” Mr Tehan told 3AW.
“I’ve spoken to their Trade Minister myself to say that this is not the way that we want the European Union behaving.
“I’ve also spoken to the head of the World Trade Organisation.”
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Countries including France and Italy will restart their rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine after a host of nations paused their immunisation plans over concerns about patients getting blood clots.
However, overnight, the European Medicines Agency gave the vaccine the green light, saying protection from being hospitalised or dying from the virus outweighs any “possible risk”.
Australian health experts have resisted calls to follow the European countries and halt our vaccine rollout, maintaining it was safe and effective.
Mr Morrison, who was in Melbourne on Friday, attended a roundtable with GPs who will play a key role in the administering the vaccines under phase 1b rollout.
More than 1100 clinics will begin giving doses to six million eligible Australians from Monday, prompting Mr Morrison to highlight the importance of working together to ensure a “smooth roll out”.
He also asked after GPs’ and staff welfare and mental health ahead of the large the task ahead.
The comments follow some GPs saying they were blindsighted when the online vaccination booking system launched this week, while others said their clinics were inundated with calls and felt ill-prepared.
The roundtable discussed that there will be a need for patience, as authorities deal with high demand for the vaccine but limited supplies until domestic manufacturing of the AstraZeneca jab ramps up.
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