Europe’s Citizens Pay the Price for Pandemic Policy Blunders

Europe, the first victim of mass death due to COVID-19, may also be among the last to escape its grasp. Several months after the European Union approved its first vaccine, the 27 nations comprising the bloc experienced vaccination rates significantly lower than the U.S, the UK, Israel, and Canada amongst others. Worse, new contagious variants of the virus have resulted in a third wave, claiming thousands of lives each day on the continent. With no end in sight, the question of responsibility must be brought to the table.  

Some critics blame the European Commission, which was arguably slow to negotiate contracts with drug companies. For comparison, the U.S had already committed billions of dollars to clinical trials and production by the time Europe began vaccine development negotiations. Washington made the process easy for drug makers—too easy, some might argue—by signing away intellectual property rights and acquitting developers of any liability should the vaccines prove ineffective. Europe on the other hand, took a more deliberative approach. Typically, EU member states administer their own public health policies, but the magnitude of contagion across the continent placed the burden of responsibility on the Commission. While non-EU countries like Britain could negotiate with drug companies individually, the Commission was forced to coordinate efforts with all 27 member states. This joint procurement requirement decelerated the pace of negotiations.

Another contributing factor was the EU’s hardline stance on costs during procurement negotiations. In June, the Commission announced a joint vaccine purchase with a $3.2 billion budget, which was drastically less than Washington’s $10 billion cut-off. Israel was willing to pay even more to receive expedited doses, paying around $25 per Pfizer dose compared to the United States’ $20 per dose and the EU’s $15 to $19 per dose. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that his vaccine strategy was successful because he did not “quibble about the price” of vaccines. Israel has since seen a sharp decline in the number of new cases. In Europe, new cases are surging – and the economic cost of another lockdown will almost surely nullify any savings created by the discounted vaccine price.

Nonetheless, blame for Europe’s vaccination debacle cannot fall entirely on a handful of poor operational decisions. A closer look at the very institutions and attitudes of the EU reveals that the explanation is as much philosophical as it is strategic, and lies in the continent’s risk-averse culture. The EU is founded on a precautionary principle: the bloc is to err on the side of caution when outcomes are unknown. In normal times, EU leaders are praised for their rationality and deliberateness, but adhering to the EU’s measured approach during the coronavirus crisis has left Europe trailing behind the sharp decision-making of countries like the U.S and Britain.

To add insult to injury, not only has the EU been risk-averse throughout the pandemic, but it has been excessively cautious over the wrong risks. Negotiation records with drug companies revealed that the EU was deeply concerned with the risk of high costs and liability in the case of vaccine ineffectiveness or fatal side effects. In contrast, the Commission seemed disinterested in the risk that more Europeans would fall ill or die if the vaccine rollout was slow, which is precisely what had happened. 

This misplaced caution was again evident in the continent’s panicked response to blood clot concerns last week. Despite recommendations from the European Medicines Agency to continue administering doses of AstraZeneca and there being “no evidence” of increased risk of blood clots among the 17 million people who received the vaccine,  a dozen countries temporarily halted its use. The pause in vaccinations by heavily populated countries like France and Germany could not have come at a worse time. While inoculations have since resumed, the decision to suspend AstraZeneca at a pivotal moment will surely impede Europe’s rollout efforts moving forward by arousing vaccine skepticism across the continent.

The EU’s disastrous vaccination campaign and the thousands of unnecessary deaths it will cause must serve as a lesson on how to act in times of crisis. European leaders must recognize, as French President Emmanuel Macron did in his comments following the E.U summit, that other countries “were right” to act “more innovative[ly]” and “more ambitious[ly]” than France and other EU nations in their vaccine rollouts. Of course, the EU’s foundation of risk-aversion need not be dismantled en masse, for much can be learned from the bloc’s policy successes. However, when calamity inevitably strikes again in the EU, preventing sickness, hospitalization, and death must outweigh any precautionary principle – and doing so will require decisive action.