Britain will not join EU virus vaccine purchase scheme
BRITAIN will not join a European Union programme to procure a coronavirus vaccine if one is successfully developed, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said.
Mr Hancock said ministers had taken the decision after Brussels confirmed the UK would have to abandon its own procurement efforts – which were at a more advanced stage – in order to take part.
He said signing up to the EU programme would also have meant Britain would have no control over the terms on which the vaccine was acquired.
“We have chosen not to join the EU scheme on vaccine purchase. The reason is it wouldn’t have allowed us to have a say in the vaccines that were procured, the price, the quantity, or the delivery schedule,” he told Times Radio.
“We are further ahead than the EU schemes are. We would have joined the EU scheme if they had allowed us also to continue with our own negotiations, but one of the conditions of the scheme was we would have had to stop our own negotiations and only do them through the European Commission and we weren’t prepared to do that.
“We think we will go faster this way.”
The SNP’S Brexit spokeswoman Dr Philippa Whitford MP said: “It is not clear which potential vaccines may ultimately prove most successful, so the UK Government must put public health ahead of Brexiteer ideology and step up efforts to engage with international partners to ensure we are fully prepared around securing potential vaccines.
“The coronavirus does not see or respect borders, so it is crucial that the fight against the virus is a global effort.”