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The European Union is prepared to block exports of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines to the UK, according to reports.
Senior officials told the Bloomberg news agency that any request for doses produced in Europe would be reviewed “very severely” until the British company fulfilled its contract with the bloc.
All vaccines and ingredients produced in European factories “will for now be reserved for local deliveries,” the source added.
The comments were made ahead of a meeting of EU leaders to discuss a possible export ban on Thursday.
It comes after Defense Minister Ben Wallace said that any attempt to block exports of the Covid-19 vaccine to the UK would be “counterproductive.”
Wallace added: “The important thing would be that the European Commission and some of the European leaders did not indulge in rhetoric, but rather recognized the obligations that we all have.”
An EU export ban could delay the UK’s vaccination program by two months, according to an analysis conducted for the guardian . However, the same analysis found that the EU program would only accelerate a week if it kept supplies destined for the UK.
Reuters reported that the vaccine line focuses on a factory in the Netherlands that is listed in AstraZeneca’s contracts signed with both Britain and the EU.
An EU official claimed that everything produced at the plant, run by subcontractor Halix in Leiden, had to go to Europe.
“The British insist that the Halix plant in the Netherlands must deliver the pharmaceutical substance produced there. That doesn’t work, ”added the official.
Downing Street declined to comment specifically on the reports.
Boris Johnson is expected to call on EU leaders earlier this week to urge them not to block vaccines made in Europe.
The EU has complained that AstraZeneca is not honoring its contract for the supply of vaccines to member countries, while apparently fulfilling its obligations under its contract with the UK.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said earlier this week that “we are not getting anything from the British as we deliver the vaccines to them.”
This follows a diplomatic dispute earlier this month after European Council President Charles Michel claimed that the UK had imposed a “total ban” on the export of Covid vaccines.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab rejected the suggestion as “completely false.”
EU officials say the UK is using a clause in its supply contract with AstraZeneca that prevents the export of UK-produced vaccines.
