{"id":116646,"date":"2021-02-03T13:26:31","date_gmt":"2021-02-03T18:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=116646"},"modified":"2021-02-03T13:28:02","modified_gmt":"2021-02-03T18:28:02","slug":"a-failure-of-epic-proportions-inside-the-european-unions-failed-vaccine-rollout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-failure-of-epic-proportions-inside-the-european-unions-failed-vaccine-rollout\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A Failure Of Epic Proportions\u2019: Inside The European Union\u2019s Failed Vaccine Rollout"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fa-failure-of-epic-proportions-inside-the-european-unions-failed-vaccine-rollout%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=116646&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Merkel.png?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>In many ways since its inception, the sheer size and scale of the bureaucracy that is the European Union has been presented as the solution to any problem faced by countries in Europe. As a result, it is often referenced by those elsewhere who hope to implement a similar globalist vision of government.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This attitude was on full display as COVID-19 vaccines entered the global scene, when it was decided that the European Commission \u2014 one of the European Union\u2019s many bloated branches \u2014 would centralize the purchasing and distribution of vaccines for every one of its 450 million inhabitants across its 27 member states.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>With the familiar arguments seen from those who promote socialized medicine in the United States \u2014 promises of efficiency, lower prices, and equality of access across economic divides \u2014 the European Union forged ahead with its plan, rather than permitting its member states to procure or organize their own vaccine programs based on their individual needs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In short, it has been a failure of epic proportions, demonstrative of the utter ineptitude of large and unchecked bureaucracies on a continental scale.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Europe is lagging behind, left in the dust by the UK (who left just in time)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>After years of political and cultural turmoil, the United Kingdom finally left the European Union on January 31st, 2020, after the British Parliament ratified the contentious withdrawal agreement dubbed \u201cBrexit,\u201d after the December 2019 general election.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Luckily, this meant that the United Kingdom \u201cescaped\u201d from the European Union just before the COVID-19 pandemic, with the statistical disparities between the UK and the rest of its former European partners displaying the shocking failures of the European bloc.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The UK\u2019s<\/span> <span>strategy focuses on nine groups who will receive the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/health-55274833\">vaccine<\/a> first: \u201ccare home residents and care home workers, people aged 80+ and frontline health and social care workers, those aged between 75 and 79, those aged between 70 and 74, and clinically extremely vulnerable people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>With the first dose administered in mid-December, the number of doses given \u201chas been steadily climbing each day \u2014 with a current seven-day average of more than 400,000,\u201d with just over 10 million people having now received a first dose. Almost 500,000 of those have received a second dose.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>When it comes to \u201cvaccine doses per 100 people in countries with highest total vaccinations,\u201d Israel is ranked first with 58.8, United Arab Emirates at 34.8, and the UK at 15.2. The United States, with a far larger population and far larger land mass, is fourth with 9.9.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Meanwhile, multiple European countries with medical systems lauded by those who advocate for <em>Medicare for All<\/em> are significantly lagging behind. Italy is fifth in this ranking, with just 3.5 vaccine doses per 100 people. Germany is sixth, with just 3.1. Scandinavian utopias like Denmark, Sweden, and Norway don\u2019t even make the top ten.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Vaccine failure across the bloc<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span>Despite the European Union\u2019s promises that a centralization of vaccine strategy would be more efficient, the reality has been one of delay and wastage. In<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-9205563\/Furious-backlash-EU-vaccine-rollout-fiasco.html\"><span>response<\/span><\/a><span>, there has been a \u201cfurious backlash across the EU,\u201d with rioting and protests breaking out.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span><em>Germany<\/em>: Health minister Jens Spahn described the vaccine shortage as the \u201cbiggest crisis since the Second World War.\u201d Of its 83 million citizens, only 2.7% have received the vaccine.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><em>Denmark<\/em>: Vaccinations \u201crunning at less than third of UK rate, with 228,875 jabs given,\u201d which amounts to just 3% of its 5.8 million citizens. Appointments for healthcare workers have also been delayed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><em>Ireland<\/em>: \u201cFury over figures showing that jab rates in North up to five times higher than in Republic,\u201d with Northern Ireland remaining part of the UK while the Republic of Ireland is an EU state. Of its 4.7 million population, just 161,500 have been vaccinated, and \u201cjabs for key health staff\u201d have been postponed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><em>Latvia<\/em>: In the largest of the EU\u2019s three ex-Soviet Baltic states, mass vaccination of its two million citizens won\u2019t even begin until at least April. At the end of January, the total number of vaccines administered was just 23,091. While the country was offered 800,000 Pfizer\/BioNTech vaccines, there is confusion over why only 97,500 were ordered.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><em>Poland<\/em>: Of its 38 million citizens, only 1.1 million have been vaccinated. Demonstrations and protests have broken out over long lines at vaccination centers, while shortages have caused hospitals to \u201csuspend sessions when they didn\u2019t get Pfizer supplies.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><em>Italy<\/em>: Of its 60 million population, only 1.8 million have received the vaccine, with the country \u201cten days behind schedule,\u201d with vaccine supply issues hampering efforts.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><em>Spain<\/em>: Vaccines have been \u201chalted,\u201d with Madrid\u2019s deputy leader warning that \u201cat current rate, it will take until 2023 before 70 per cent of population inoculated.\u201d As the supply of the vaccine drops, almost all vaccinations have been stopped for two weeks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><em>France<\/em>: Of its 67 million citizens, only 1.4 million vaccines have been given, with the \u201ctarget of four million to be vaccinated by end of February cut to 2.4 million.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><em>Netherlands<\/em>: Of its 17.3 million citizens, only 215,000 people have been vaccinated, with the first doses administered a month after the vaccine was rolled out in the UK.&nbsp;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><em>Lithuania<\/em>: Of its 2.8 million citizens, only 91,794 vaccinations have been administered, with \u201cno prospect of mass inoculation until July.\u201d First round of vaccinations in care homes began in late January.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><em>Estonia<\/em>: Of its 1.3 million citizens, only 7,600 have received two doses of the vaccine, with 34,019 receiving just one. \u201c<\/span><span>Despite huge public pressure to approve Russia\u2019s Sputnik V vaccine, authorities in capital Tallinn plan to stick loyally to the EU pact on supplies.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><em>Bulgaria<\/em>: Of its seven million citizens, with \u201cone of the highest mortality rates,\u201d only 40,000 doses of the vaccine have been given. The government has not set any official deadlines, and instead has announced an \u201coptimistic\u201d target of vaccinating between 1.5 and two million people by the end of August. As reported by the Daily Mail, with \u201cblame being aimed at EU, government is predicted to break ranks and approve Russian and Chinese vaccines.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><em>Romania<\/em>: \u201cWith 647,000 inoculated, country is sixth in EU league table,\u201d but faces concern after the government \u201cannounced delays to vaccinations for at-risk groups and key workers,\u201d with more than 65,000 facing postponed vaccine appointments until the middle of February \u201cdue to Pfizer vaccine shortages.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><em>Hungary<\/em>: Was the first \u201cEU state to defy EU leaders and approve Russia\u2019s Sputnik V vaccine,\u201d while 500,000 doses of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine arrived in late January.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span><em>Greece and Cyprus<\/em>: Both countries are \u201cseeking help from Israel,\u201d asking the nearby Jewish state with an overwhelmingly successful vaccine program to \u201cco-operate.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Germany\u2019s two-faced strategy on vaccine supply<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Capitulating under the pressure of enraged citizens, multiple countries in the bloc are blaming their bureaucratic overlords in Brussels. Germany, with Angela Merkel often seen as the de facto leader of Europe, has also been acting to further its own interests in light of its failure, often to the detriment of the union of states it claims to support.<\/p>\n<p>After countries like the United Kingdom ordered vaccine supplies from European suppliers before the EU, Germany\u2019s health minister Jens Spahn pivoted to blame the shortfalls on external factors, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/ed0059c9-1ea5-4ba9-a1ff-88004b59e71d\">urging<\/a> \u201cBrussels to force companies to obtain permission before shipping jabs from the bloc.\u201d With familiar language, the notion of \u201cfairness\u201d was referenced, in order to obfuscate the EU\u2019s own failures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not about EU first. It\u2019s about Europe\u2019s fair share,\u201d said Mr. Spahn, as reported by the Financial Times. \u201cThat\u2019s why I think it would make sense to have a restriction on exports. It would mean that vaccines that leave the EU need a permit, so that at least we know what\u2019s produced in Europe, what is leaving Europe, where it\u2019s leaving Europe for, and we have a fair distribution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Such advocacy of fairness didn\u2019t prevent Germany from acting in its own best interests, however, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/merkel-us-uk-speed-on-vaccines-rankles-but-nothing-wrong-with-eu-approach\/\">Politico<\/a> reporting that \u201cGermany is looking to have its cake and eat it, too,\u201d after championing joint purchasing of the vaccine and simultaneously making additional agreements for extra doses, \u201cnow purchasing additional vaccines other EU countries didn\u2019t want.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p><span>With dwindling supplies due to a combination of delayed action in ordering the vaccines, ineptitude and inefficiency in distributing the vaccine, and cynical actions of countries like Germany trying to obtain a disproportionate supply, one thing is clear: The European Union\u2019s vaccine rollout has been an unmitigated disaster, and one which will further fuel the continent\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/articles\/2021-02-03\/eu-faces-100-billion-euro-price-tag-for-bungled-vaccine-rollout\">economic crisis<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The COVID-19 vaccine was a bellwether test for the efficacy of mass bureaucracies like the European Union.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It\u2019s a test they have failed spectacularly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ighaworth\"><em>@ighaworth<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The views expressed in this piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\">&nbsp;<em>member<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In many ways since its inception, the sheer size and scale of the bureaucracy that is the European Union has been presented as the solution to any problem faced by &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1892550,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[5072,5075,5071,4152,5074,5038],"class_list":["post-116646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-epic","tag-european","tag-failure","tag-inside","tag-proportions","tag-unions"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1892550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}