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Of: TT
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Photo: Christopher Furlong / Pool Photo via AP / TT
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will speak with Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron about the vaccine dispute. Stock Photography.
NEWS
Missed vaccine deliveries turn the relationship between the EU and the UK bitter.
Unless pharmaceutical giant Astra Zeneca delivers the promised doses, export bans could soon be imposed, threatening the EU.
British pharmaceutical giant Astra Zeneca is falling behind with promised vaccine deliveries to the EU and is straining already tense relations between the Union and the British Isles.
At the end of last week, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen threatened the company with halting exports, unless the EU receives the promised vaccine doses earlier than other countries.
According to von der Leyen, Astra Zeneca has only delivered 30 percent of the 90 million doses of vaccines that the company promised during the first quarter of the year. The company has blamed the delays on its facilities in the EU, but at the same time has managed to deliver under contract to the UK.
Strul in the Netherlands
At Thursday’s digital summit, the heads of state and government of EU countries will continue to discuss export bans and other measures that may be relevant to ensure that manufacturers comply with their supply agreements.
The threat to halt exports turns many Britons on a deaf ear.
This is partly due to the fact that the production of the vaccine by Astra Zeneca in several cases takes place outside the country’s borders. One such case is the factory of the subcontractor Helix in the city of Leiben in the Netherlands. There, the shipment of vaccine doses to the UK has been stopped as the supplier also has a contract with the EU, which may mean that vaccine doses must go to Union countries first.
“Our position is clear”
Recently, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will speak with his German and French counterparts Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron about how to best resolve the vaccine dispute.
If they fail to find a solution to the current stalemate, a full-scale trade war threatens, Johnson staff warn.
“Our position is clear: we do not want countries to impose bans on the export of vaccines,” said a spokesman for a British prime minister.
Currently, the UK is far ahead of the EU countries when it comes to vaccinating its population. At the time of writing, at least one dose of vaccine has been offered to about 40 percent of the population. The corresponding share in the average EU country is around 10 percent.
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