Macron is not the Prime Minister of Italy."Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, played down the impact of Italy’s decision to block the export.“This particular shipment was not one we’d counted on for the rollout, and so we will continue unabated,” he said. “In Italy, people are dying at the rate of 300 a day. And so I can certainly understand the high level of anxiety that would exist in Italy and in many countries across Europe. They are in an unbridled crisis situation. That is not the situation in Australia.”AstraZeneca has production sites in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. Australia has purchased 53m doses from the company, the first of which are due to be distributed this month. The vaccine has the advantage of being able to be kept in normal refrigerated conditions rather than in freezers.AstraZeneca had made deliveries to Italy last week that were about 10-15% smaller than expected. But the company insisted it would respect its commitment to supply the country with 4.2m doses in the first quarter of the year." (Guardian today) (Other newspapers are available - often for a price).
David Ainsworth ● 1880d