Italy prevents export of COVID-19 vaccines to Australia

Italy has prevented a shipment of coronavirus vaccines from going to Australia - the first time a new EU export control method has been used.The government of Mario Draghi, Italy's newly appointed prime minister, asked Brussels for the export to be blocked last Friday. The European Commission has now given its backing to the request. The shipment contained 250.700 doses, according to the Italian government.READ MORE COVID-19 RELATED NEWS HEREThe Italian Foreign Affairs Ministry said it received an export authorisation request from AstraZeneca on February 24. The ministry discussed with other regulatory bodies in Italy, which "sent a negative opinion".Two days later, Italy sent the Commission its refusal to grant the application and Australia was informed of the decision on March 2, before the news became public.READ MORE COVID-19 RELATED NEWS HEREThe Italian ministry cited three main causes for blocking the shipment of vaccines:Reacting to the news during a press conference on Friday, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison struck a conciliatory tone, telling that Australia has gained "sovereignty" over its own vaccination program through domestic production.READ MORE COVID-19 RELATED NEWS HERE"We'd always assumed that these sorts of problems could arise. And that's why we've done several things, the most important of which is to ensure that we have our domestically-produced vaccine," Morrison said.In total, Australia has ensured 53.8 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, with 50 million required to be produced inside the country. Morrison also stated encouragement with Italy's deadly health crisis. "I'm in regular contact with European leaders," Morrison said.READ MORE COVID-19 RELATED NEWS HERE