EU ACCUSED OF VACCINE SMEAR AGAINST UK
PM FURIOUSLY DENIES BLOC’S ACCUSATIONS OF UK BAN ON EXPORTING OXFORD JAB
BORIS JOHNSON waded into a furious diplomatic row with the EU yesterday after it blamed a British export ban for its sluggish vaccine rollout.
The prime minister insisted no ban existed and said the UK was ‘proud of the support it has given to the international Covid response’.
‘We oppose vaccine nationalism in all its forms,’ he told prime minister’s questions. ‘Let me be clear we have not blocked the export of a single Covid-19 vaccine or vaccine components.’
European Council president Charles Michel sparked the row by claiming the UK had imposed an ‘outright ban’ on exporting vaccines made here. He also said he was shocked to hear the EU accused of ‘vaccine nationalism’ after it let Italy seize Australia’s first AstraZeneca shipment.
‘Our objective is to prevent companies, from which we have ordered and pre-financed doses, from exporting them to other advanced countries when they have not delivered to us what was promised,’ he claimed.
Mr Michel’s accusations come amid growing dismay over the speed of the EU rollout. The bloc has vaccinated less than a tenth of its population, compared to 37 per cent in the UK.
The EU has been hit with production problems at vaccine plants after delays in signing deals with manufacturers.
And it threatened in January to impose checks at Northern Ireland’s border with the Republic – jeopardising the Good Friday Agreement – in a bid to stop vaccines entering the UK.
Britain also faced production issues but signed deals with AstraZeneca before the EU. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said yesterday the PM had confirmed there was no ban on vaccine exports.
And Mr Michel appeared to backtrack – while still also suggesting a ban.
‘Glad if the UK reaction leads to more transparency and increased exports to EU and third countries,’ he tweeted.
‘Different ways of imposing bans or restrictions on vaccines/medicines.’