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Plans are being made for Covid-19 vaccines to be delivered to the state by air and, if necessary, by land and sea directly from continental Europe to avoid the UK ‘land bridge’ in the event of post-Brexit delays.
Concerns about possible congestion at ports after EU-UK border controls go into effect on January 1 have prompted the government’s Covid-19 vaccine task force to plan for potential Brexit logistical issues. .
The task force plans to transport the vaccines to the state by air transport but, in the unlikely event that air transport is not available, the vaccines will arrive by direct ferries from Europe, according to people familiar with the plans.
The task force considered potential stops on the transit route through Britain after post-Brexit border controls and inspections take effect as part of its planning for vaccine delivery.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said this week that he did not expect Brexit congestion to be a problem in deliveries and that the task force’s job was to “get the logistics of this right.”
The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, if approved, will likely be the first to reach the state early next year and will be compact enough to be distributed in large quantities, with about 1,000 doses that fit in trays the size equivalent to a box of pizza. The drug must be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius and requires specialized transportation.
Talks
Meanwhile, talks between British and European Union negotiators continued in London last night amid warnings that significant gaps remained as time ran out for a deal.
Stefaan De Rynck, senior adviser to EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, said the talks “probably went past kilometer 40” in a 42-kilometer marathon.
“There are still significant divergences. Both parties are working hard to overcome them, but the outcome is uncertain, ”he said.
Most of the legal text of an agreement has already been agreed, but there are still differences in the fisheries, the level playing field of guarantees of fair competition and the way in which the agreement should be enforced.
Sources close to both sides said the talks could continue into Friday and perhaps the weekend, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson expected to speak with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen before definite breakthrough is possible.
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