The European Commission has adopted new measures making the export of Covid-19 vaccines subject to export authorization, European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said in Brussels Friday.

“The commission has adopted a strictly targeted measure that will allow us to gather accurate information about the production of vaccines and where manufacturers intend to ship them,” he said.

“The measure is time-limited and specifically applies to those Covid-19 vaccines that were agreed by advance purchase agreements. The measure is intended to run until the end of March,” he added.

“The protection and safety of our citizens is a priority and the challenges we now face left us with no other choice but to act.”

Dombrovskis said during a press briefing that new measures regulating the export of coronavirus vaccines from the bloc are “not targeting any specific country,” stressing that the measure has been introduced to enhance transparency.

Some of the countries the commission has outlined which are to be exempt from export measures include some EU member states and countries in the Middle East and any of the 92 low- and middle-income countries in the COVAX recipient list.

The United Kingdom is not on its list of exemptions.

Speaking alongside Dombrovskis, European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said that the EU is not implementing the new measures to protect itself against any specific country, but rather to “ensure access to vaccines for European citizens and, of course, beyond.”

“We are not in competition or in a race against any country,” Kyriakides said.

“The only race we are in is against this virus, and this is what has been at the centre of every single piece of work that we have been doing for almost a year,” she added.