IT SMACKS of discrimination, really. The European Union (EU) has now reportedly said that its approval of AstraZeneca doses made by South Korea, Thailand, India or Japan would not be recognised.

Unfortunately, South Korea and Thailand produce AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccines for Malaysia’s order.

That means Malaysians vaccinated with AZ may be barred from entering Europe. The European Union’s Digital Covid Certificate will only recognise EU-approved shots for free travel within the bloc.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has approved the Covid-19 vaccine by AstraZeneca (branded Vaxzevria), besides Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.

But the EU drug regulator’s approval does not cover AstraZeneca doses made by South Korea’s SK Bioscience or Thailand’s Siam Bioscience.

The EMA has only approved AZ vaccine manufacturing sites in the EU, the United Kingdom, United States and China.

But while South Korea’s SK Bioscience manufacturing site is listed in Vaxzevria’s product information as one of the manufacturers of the vaccine’s biological active substance, EMA said this simply means that “the active substance produced at this site can be used to manufacture Vaxzevria, the vaccine that is authorised in the EU”.

The EU is saying this – the AZ produced in South Korea or Japan is not good enough.

It has accepted the one that is Made-In-China because no one messes around China. It is also a moot point as most Chinese have been vaccinated with Sinovac rather than AZ.

Until now, the EU is dragging its feet over the status of Sinovac, presumably counting the economic impact on Europe if the Chinese stop coming into Europe or start a boycott. The fact is China is the EU’s biggest trading partner.

These Europeans cannot make up their mind; it’s that simple. They are much smarter than the Aussies, which has taken China to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for the high tariffs on the wine.

Who is advising the Australian Prime Minister on this? You have kicked and humiliated the Chinese, and you expect them to buy your wine.

Instead of calming them down, you take them to the WTO. How brilliant. What a great way to treat your customers.

Perhaps Asians should tell the EU that we should not buy their luxury cars such as the Mercedes-Benz, which are assembled in India, Malaysia and Thailand – because they are not made in Europe.

It may not be the best comparison as it is like comparing apples and oranges, or well, durians and rambutans.

But is that the logic because if these German cars are assembled in Asia, their quality would not match those in Europe?

The French Peugeot owns and operates in Malaysia. It is also assembled in Vietnam and is starting manufacturing in India. I like to think these are good cars regardless of where they are assembled or manufactured because there will be proper quality control to protect the brands.

We know that Korean cars are produced in Czechoslovakia for Europe while Germany’s BMW cars are assembled in Malaysia.

All these decisions to recognise or not to recognise certain vaccines have put the world in a fix.

The EU has snubbed the World Health Organisation who has listed two versions of the AstraZeneca/Oxford Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving the green light for these vaccines to be rolled out globally through Covax.

WHO’s Emergency Use Listing (EUL) assesses the quality, safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines and is a prerequisite for Covax Facility vaccine supply.

It also allows countries to expedite their regulatory approval to import and administer Covid-19 vaccines.

But the Europeans are not the only ones giving the world this predicament. This includes the Chinese, too. If you are not vaccinated by Sinovac or Sinopharm, the two Chinese vaccines, you may be barred from entering China.

For many businessmen in Malaysia, who need to travel to China, their preferences are the Sinovac. But it’s beyond their control because they cannot select the vaccine that they preferred.

We should also not assume that everyone is embracing the American vaccine because there are many Asians who have walked away from vaccination centres when they find out that they would be given Pfizer.

They would rather take the Sinovac than Pfizer, Moderna or AZ, which would be the choice of those wanting to go to the US or UK. We are not even sure of the status of AZ vaccinated people who want to enter the US.

There are reports that the US does not recognise AZ and is reportedly sending them abroad, presumably because its regulatory system has not approved it yet.

For Muslims in Malaysia, the Saudi Arabia government has insisted that it would only allow pilgrims jabbed with Pfizer and AZ. That must be heartbreaking for many pilgrims – who are vaccinated with other vaccines – from many countries.

Then, there is the Taiwan government which refused to accept Chinese vaccines out of pride.

They accepted the AZ vaccine, which included over two million doses from Japan, and now we are told the EU doesn’t recognise the Japanese one either.

As of now, the vaccines, regardless of their brands, are about saving lives. The last thing that we are worried about is making overseas trips, unless on urgent business.

We will let the leaders sort out this mess. It will be foolish if vaccine discrimination comes into effect.

No one would want to admit it’s just a way of keeping away certain nationalities, but it looks to be that way.

Note: I have had my second dose of #CucukMYAZ and I am grateful. I don’t have the slightest worry if I am unwelcomed anywhere else.

EYE-brows were raised when Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin lambasted rich countries for vaccine hoarding, describing the act as “cruel and unjust” against poor and less developed countries.

The Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister drew similarity to the act with a scene from the Titanic where the ship was sinking and the rich people in the first class had the priority boarding the lifeboats.

”Poor countries, less developed countries, are left to drown. That is what is happening today,” Khairy said at the launch of Malaysia Aviation Group’s (MAG) sustainability blueprint here on Wednesday (June 23).

But in a highly charged political atmosphere, Khairy found himself under fire, with his detractors saying he was merely shifting attention from the criticism against him for the slow rollout of the vaccination exercise.

The National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) was also rapped for its giving conditional approval for the CanSino vaccine and not approving Sinopharm and Sputnik vaccines. In reality, Singapore has also not approved these vaccines.

Singapore is only providing Pfizer and Moderna while the private sector is allowed to give Sinovac, which comes from government stock purchases some time ago.

The European Union Ambassador to Malaysia Michalis Rokas was quick to refute Khairy’s statement, saying the EU (European Union) had shipped 4.087 million Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses and approved the export of another five million doses for Malaysia.

”By June 21, five million doses have been approved for exportation and 4,087,000 doses have been effectively transported already by June 15.

”These numbers concern doses manufactured by Pfizer, and to these exports, I should also add that the EU has already manufactured and already shipped 560,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the Covax scheme,” Rokas said.

But Rokas wasn’t addressing the statement made by Khairy, who was talking about poor and less developed countries as a whole.

Is it merely the politicians capitalising on public anger without providing real answers? Let’s look at the facts and figures.

Khairy isn’t wrong.

The Covid-19 Immunisation Programme coordinating minister isn’t the only politician who has complained about vaccine hoarding. On Wednesday, Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen also expressed the same sentiment.

Even the rich nations were putting conditions for supplying vaccines to other countries, Momen reportedly told journalists at his ministry office in Dhaka after a weeklong visit to the United States.

Without naming any country or the conditions, he said, “They’re seeking this or that in return.”

In March, The Guardian reported that rich countries with 14 per cent of the world’s population had secured 53 per cent of the best vaccines.

Almost all Pfizer/BinNTech vaccines will go to rich countries, the United Kingdom newspaper reported.

”The Moderna vaccine will go to rich countries exclusively; it is not even being offered to the poor. In fact, nine out of 10 people in poor countries may never be vaccinated at all. Washington is sitting on vaccines making sure no one gets any while the US needs them. The European Union has exported 34 million doses to, of all places, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong – countries that have no problem sourcing or paying for vaccines.

”In fact, the EU sent about nine million doses to the United Kingdom, a country which, no longer in the EU, also has what amounts in practice to an export ban of its own, official denials notwithstanding,”

It’s unlikely that Moderna’s chief executives feel bad about the unvaccinated poor. The company forecast sales of over USD$18bil (RM74.96bil) for 2021, pushing Moderna into profit for the first time since its founding 11 years ago. Pfizer hasn’t done too poorly either; they’re expecting a cool USD$15bil (RM62.47bil) in sales.

South Africa, the African continent’s worst-hit country, is buying AZ (AstraZeneca) at nearly two and a half times higher than the per-unit price of European countries.

In short – the vaccines are not being sold at standard prices. It also depends on the volume that a country has ordered, which will, for example, put Malaysia having less bargaining clout with our small population.

The Guardian reported that European countries were buying doses below the supposed cap of €2.50 (RM12.43) and “African countries far above it”. In contrast, Canada has purchased more doses per head than anyone else – enough to vaccinate every single Canadian five times over. But the entire continent of Africa – home to 1.3 billion people – has been allocated a total of only 300 million doses.

As of the first week of January, only 25 vaccines had been administered in all of sub-Saharan Africa. Yes – dua puluh lima (twenty-five).

While many Malaysians were praising Israel for administering 150,000 doses of vaccine a day, it was not widely reported that the Palestinians, whose land it occupied, were left out.

Last week, it was widely reported in the Arab media that the first batch of Pfizer vaccines that the Palestinians received did not conform to specifications. The 90,000 doses that were supposed to expire in July or August turned out to expire in June.

The BBC has also reported about the predicament faced by the poor countries.

Since December, it has been reported that rich countries are hoarding doses of Covid vaccines and “people living in poor countries are set to miss out”, according to a coalition of campaigning bodies.

The People’s Vaccine Alliance, a movement of health and humanitarian organisations, says nearly 70 lower-income countries will only be able to vaccinate one in 10 people.

This is despite AZ pledging to provide 64% of its doses to people in developing nations, it said.

”And even though rich nations represent just 14% of the world’s population, they have bought up 53% of the most promising vaccines so far, according to data from eight leading vaccine candidates in Phase 3 trials that have done substantial deals with countries worldwide,” it said.

What about the EU? Well, it has secured 900 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine and reserved an option to buy 900 million more to be delivered by 2023.

In short – while most developing countries are struggling to give the first jab, the EU is ready for the booster jabs, in case the third shots are needed.

That gives the EU as many as 3 billion secured doses, or 6.6 per person, without accounting for the optioned ones,” Quartz reported.

It said, “excess vaccines give wealthy countries power over those dependent on donations in order to immunise their citizens. Many countries are using vaccines as a diplomatic tool, donating them in order to strengthen—or form—international alliances. China has excelled at this but the United States is catching up.”

So, Taiwan – the US ally – snubbed China-made vaccines and waited for the vaccines, and naturally, Taiwan got what it wanted for being supportive of Washington DC.

Meanwhile, Singapore’s Temasek-led investor group injected USD$250mil (RM1.04bil) into the German biotech firm through a private placement last June. In short, it has a stake in the vaccine manufacturing company.

Yes, Malaysia should have done better in procuring the vaccines and even expedited the vaccination exercise.

But countries are at the mercy of the manufacturers and the rich countries. They decide who should get it and how much.

If there is any comfort to the European countries, which have been accused of hoarding, they, too, have taken legal action against AZ for failing to deliver the vaccines on time.

Still, while developing countries struggle to give their people the first vaccination, the rich countries hoard the vaccines for booster shots. The third injections are needed to fight the different variants.