EU to ease restrictions on COVID-19 vaccine exports

The European Union plans to ease restrictions on COVID-19 vaccine exports, The Associated Press reported on Friday, amid rising concerns about new variants globally.

Starting in January, the EU will no longer require vaccine producers to request special authorization to export outside of their borders. 

The EU had at one point used its system to secure a shipment of more than a quarter-million AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine doses, originally meant for Australia. 

EU spokesperson Dana Spinant said a “transparency of exports” will be ensured with a new monitoring system. 

Spinant said the EU is already the biggest provider of vaccines, with more than 1.3 billion doses being exported to more than 150 countries. 

The 27-nation bloc says that 65 percent of its population has been vaccinated against the virus, according to the AP.