Opinion: The introduction of botched vaccines in the EU will prolong economic misery and fill intensive care units

As of Friday, the UK had administered 11 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, representing 16.5 percent of its population. Israel’s number was 58.5 percent worldwide. Even America had managed to vaccinate 11.2 percent of its population.

And the European Union?

According to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker, the EU’s vaccination rate was just 3.4 percent and that of France a miserable 2.8 percent. At this rate, it would take years to reach 75 percent or more. At the UK’s pace, it should be able to provide virtually the entire population with the first dose of the approved two-dose vaccines by the summer.

The introduction of vaccines in the EU was a travesty of epic proportions. Manuela Schwesig, President of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, went on television to express her anger over the shortage of cans. “Even the United States under [former President Donald] Trump obviously did a better job, “she said.

Her anger was directed against Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission and former German Defense Minister, her supporter Chancellor Angela Merkel and her ally Jens Spahn, the German health minister and a candidate to replace Ms. Merkel when she resigns in September. Another major role was played by French President Emmanuel Macron, who advocates the French slow-motion vaccine campaign and says the Oxford-AstraZeneca rush is “almost ineffective for people over 65” – the data on the matter are inconclusive.

Anyone closely linked to the failed vaccine rollout, including those of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the EU medicines regulator, has suffered a credibility damage. Some careers might end – there will be blood.

The other victim, of course, is the EU itself. The economic recovery will stall along with the vaccine supply, while a quick recovery is far more likely in economies with quick rollouts.

The EU and the countries of the euro zone are already going nowhere quickly. In the eurozone, GDP fell 0.7 percent in the last quarter, and some economists expect negative growth to continue in the first quarter of 2021. In the US, growth was 4 percent in the fourth quarter. The euro has fallen against the dollar and this week, with the full support of business leaders desperate for a government that could save the country from economic collapse, former head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, was pushed into Italian government .

How did the EU vaccination strategy go so wrong? The wounds appear to be largely self-inflicted.

In a takeover of power that seemed sensible at the time, the European Commission established itself last summer as a vaccine buyer for the entire EU. As the executive branch of the EU, it would have the power to negotiate cheap supply contracts with Big Pharma. Never mind that the EC had no experience of buying vaccines en masse. Previously, this job was left to the individual states. In November, Ms. von der Leyen boasted in a speech: “We have taken the first steps to build a European Health Union.”

By then, the EC was far behind in the vaccination game. The UK had used emergency override powers to approve the AstraZeneca vaccine (which was technically part of the EU at the time) and to sign a supply contract three months before the EU. Other individual EU countries could have done the same but wanted to wait for the EMA to approve the vaccine. But the agency was slowly moving.

The European Commission also wasted valuable time haggling over price and liability – the right to sue the manufacturer if the vaccine caused dire side effects or death. The UK and US believed that too many people were dying too quickly to be drawn into lengthy liability negotiations.

If the excessive caution by the EC and EMA wasn’t bad enough, another problem arose when supply problems with the AstraZeneca and Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines resulted in the EU not receiving all of the expected shipments. At this point, the EC panicked and threatened a Brexit clause to prevent EU vaccine exports from reaching the UK via Northern Ireland.

The trick failed spectacularly and EU officials blamed others. The overall picture was incompetent. Until Friday, when the vaccine shortage worsened, Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, urged the EU to approve the Russian vaccine Sputnik V to fill the loopholes. A peer review in The Lancet Medical Journal found the two-shot product to be nearly 92 percent effective.

The slow adoption of vaccines in the EU will have dire consequences. This will lead to more deaths and more pressure on the intensive care units. This will also delay the economic recovery. Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is delighted, although his early response to the pandemic has been slow and chaotic. EU membership does not always have its advantages.

Your time is precious. Have the Top Business Headlines newsletter conveniently delivered to your inbox in the morning or evening. Register today.