Meningitis Vaccine Shipment Delayed in Italy Due to COVID-19 Vaccine Export Worries

A meningitis vaccine shipment is being held up by Italy's customs agency over suspicions that drugmakers are attempting to circumvent COVID-19 vaccine export controls in the European Union, two people familiar with the matter said, Bloomberg reported. The shipment comes from GlaxoSmithKline Plc and is worth about $10 million. It has been sitting at Rome's airport for about a week awaiting testing to determine the true contents of the vaccines. The delayed shipment may turn out to be collateral damage from the EU's ramped up export control regime, which the bloc extended on March 24 due to concerns that vaccine commitments between developers and the government would not be met (see 2103240016).