I propose to take Questions Nos. 180 and 182 together.
Universal and equitable access to safe, effective and affordable vaccines, diagnostics and treatments is crucial in the global fight against COVID-19.
International Trade is a competence of the EU under the Treaties and in exercising that competence, the European Commission engages fully with the Member States, including Ireland, through a variety of Committees and Working Parties/Groups, including on Intellectual Property.
The EU is of the view that there is no single solution and that a multi-pronged approach is needed and that discussions should concentrate on how the Intellectual Property system can contribute towards increasing the manufacturing capacity and the equitable access to vaccines around the world.
In recent months, the EU has participated in the informal discussions on the intellectual property element of the WTO response to the COVID-19 pandemic with representatives of South Africa, India, and the US, known as the ‘Quad’ group. These discussions have been detailed and protracted, and a potential proposed compromise outcome has now emerged, that aims to offer the most promising path toward achieving a meaningful outcome among all WTO Members. The outcome was put forward by the WTO Secretariat last week.
This draft proposal has not yet been presented to the full WTO membership for consideration. As these consultations are still ongoing, I am not in a position to provide details of the draft proposal.
In the meantime, the EU will continue to engage constructively in discussions in the WTO in order to reach a compromise as soon as possible.
Global production of COVID-19 vaccines reached 12.6 billion doses by February 2022 and is expected to be between 18 and 19 billion by mid-2022. This means that by mid-2022 we will have sufficient vaccines for everybody in the world, including for booster campaigns. As vaccine production is no longer an issue, the focus has now shifted to vaccinations and how strengthening health systems and their preparedness is pivotal in the achievement of the 70% vaccination target.
In 2021, the EU was the largest donor of doses through COVAX and is the largest donor and exporter of vaccines globally. Team Europe has shared more than 400 million vaccine doses and exported over 1.8 billion vaccines to 165 countries and is committed to sharing 700 million doses by mid-2022, with a focus on supporting Africa where vaccination rates are lower than in other parts of the world. Team Europe is also investing €1 billion to ramp up mRNA production capacity in Africa.
In addition to dose donation and exports of vaccines, the EU, with its Member States, has committed over €3 billion to COVAX in support of the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
The Irish Government has to date committed to the donation of €13.5 million and five million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the COVAX facility. Over 1.8 million doses have already been delivered to recipient countries including almost 1.5 million doses delivered to African countries including Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, and Burkina Faso, with further deliveries expected to follow shortly.
