6 countries dump EU’s inadequate jab scheme
SIX countries have ditched the EU’s vaccine buy-up project amid fears the bloc is facing a third wave of infections and even lengthier lockdowns.
Austria and Denmark are leading the rebellion.
And Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic plan to use jabs produced by China and Russia, not yet approved by the EU.
Only 33.3 million Brusselswrangled doses have been administered so far, just 7.5 per cent of the bloc’s 450 millionstrong population.
In contrast, one in three British adults have received their first jab, with more than 20 million inoculations so far.
Despite growing anger at Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen’s programme, the EU launched a desperate defence yesterday.
A spokesman said: “It’s not that the strategy unravelled. For our vaccines, we go through the European Medicines Agency because we want to ensure efficacy and safety. What member states do in addition to that, it’s their responsibility.”
He added that eurocrats are keen to “learn lessons” from nations outperforming the bloc.
Slow
Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz said the EU’s drugs watchdog had been “too slow” to approve the jabs.
He is due to fly to Israel to negotiate the purchase of leftover vaccines. Mr Kurz added: “We must prepare for further mutations and should no longer be dependent only on the EU for the production of second-generation vaccines.”
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen has signalled she will also travel to Tel Aviv to broker her own agreement.
Poland and Hungary are in talks with Beijing to secure millions of doses of the Chinese-made Sinopharm jab.
Swedish MEP Charlie Weimers encouraged other countries including his own to join the mutiny. He said: “It’s been a catalogue of U-turns, arrogance and incompetence.”
Meanwhile, France, Germany and Belgium are under pressure to give the AstraZeneca jab to older people after restricting use – despite real-world data showing it to be highly effective in over-80s.
● More than three in five Britons would support flights which only accepted vaccinated passengers. Some 61 per cent polled by travel think tank Thrive backed such a move.