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European leaders are divided on how far the European Union should go to block exports of Covid-19 vaccines amid a shortage that has crippled the continent’s inoculation campaign.
The leaders discussed their differences on Thursday during a virtual summit, which took place in lieu of their quarterly meeting in Brussels, although a decision on the matter was not expected.
Ahead of the summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned against blanket measures that she said could disrupt global supply chains that fuel vaccine production in Europe.
But other European leaders, including Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and French President Emmanuel Macron, want to take a stricter line with European vaccine companies that don’t administer as many doses as their contracts dictate.
Without the ability to broadly ban vaccine exports, some officials say, it is difficult for Europe to pressure drug makers and countries that have absorbed vaccine exports from the EU, one of the world’s largest producers, without shipping supplies. to the continent.
