‘Too early’ to determine when UK will send vaccines abroad

LIZ TRUSS has said it is “too early” to determine when the UK will send coronavirus vaccines abroad, as she guaranteed there will be no disruption to jabs coming from the European Union.

The Secretary of State for International Trade said that “we first need to make sure that our population is vaccinated” but insisted it would be damaging to become a “vaccinated island” while other countries go without.

Ministers have agreed to a “reset” in relations with the EU after

Brussels imposed export controls on vaccines, as the bloc suffers supply shortages from pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.

Brussels backtracked on a widely condemned move to override part of the Brexit agreement on Northern Ireland to control shipments of jabs, risking a hard border with the Republic.

Asked if she could guarantee that the supply of Belgium-made Pfizer jabs would not be disrupted, Ms Truss told The Andrew Marr Show on the BBC: “Yes, I can.

“The Prime Minister has spoken to the president of the European

Commission. She has assured him that there will be no disruption of contracts that we have with any producer in the EU.”

But with predictions that the UK will ultimately have a surplus of jabs after vaccinating the population, questions have turned to when the Government will help other nations.

“Of course, we first need to make sure that our population is vaccinated. We have a target to get the most vulnerable vaccinated by mid-February,” Ms Truss told Sky.