UK. – This Wednesday, March 10, the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, rejected the assertions of the president of the European council, Charles Michel, that him UK imposed a ban on exports from the vaccine against coronavirus.
“Let me be clear: we have not blocked the export of a single covid-19 vaccine or its components,” he told Parliament, according to AFP. “This pandemic has put us all on the same side in the global health fight. We oppose vaccine nationalism in all its forms, “he added.
In a text posted online, Michel on Tuesday denounced “export bans” by the United States and the United Kingdom, prompting an immediate denial from London. “The British government has never blocked the export of a single vaccine. Any reference to a ban or any restriction on vaccines is completely wrong, “said a Downing Street spokesman.
In protest, the UK summoned the EU Deputy Ambassador to London, Nicola Mannion, on Wednesday. And the head of British diplomacy, Dominic Raab, sent a letter to Michel in which he reiterated that “the British government has not blocked any export of the covid-19 vaccine or its components.” According to a European official, “a response is being prepared” by the EU, which exports 30% of its vaccines, while the British “do not give any figures.”
The UK has only two factories that produce AstraZeneca’s vaccine and the contract signed by London with the laboratory, by the company itself, obliges it to prioritize the British order. In the United States, a presidential executive order prevents any export of vaccines until the country has enough to vaccinate its population.
According to an internal document consulted on Wednesday by AFP, the European Commission has approved 249 requests to export covid-19 vaccines since the end of January, to about 30 states and regions. Thus, the EU exported 34.1 million doses between February 1 and March 9, including 9.1 million to the United Kingdom, more than a third of the total doses administered to the British so far. The Europeans also delivered some 3.9 million doses to Canada, 3.1 million to Mexico, 2.7 million to Japan and 954,000 doses to the United States.
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