VAX BLOW
Fears Britain’s Covid vaccine rollout could be delayed by TWO MONTHS if EU bans exports
BRITAIN'S Covid vaccine rollout faces a two-month delay if EU member states go ahead with a jab export ban.
The move, set to be debated on Thursday, could derail the UK government's roadmap to reopen the economy.
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The European Commission said it would ensure a jab facility in the Netherlands would keep the remedies in the EU.
Run by drugs firm Halix, the Leiden-based plant is listed as a supplier of vaccines in both the contracts that AstraZeneca has signed with Britain and the European Union.
An EU official said: “The Brits are insisting that the Halix plant in the Netherlands must deliver the drug substance produced there to them. That doesn’t work.
“What is produced in Halix has to go to the EU.”
But according to analytics firm Airfinity, the move would NOT provide a significant boost to beleaguered vaccine rollouts in the European Union.
Research shows that the number doses kept within the bloc would speed up EU vaccinations by "just over a week".
Yet, an export ban of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine made in Belgium and Germany would delay every British adult receiving a first jab until August 5, reports the .
SHOT IN THE ARM
And a further ban to all jab exports, including those from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, would delay the rollout target even further to August 27, the report says.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's roadmap out of lockdown, which he first revealed last month, had aimed to inoculate every UK adult by the end of July.
Britain was on course to beat that target by six weeks - before a recent supply problem with AstraZeneca’s plant in India .
The EU's shambolic rollout, combined with a sharp rise in infections, has seen large swathes of the continent plunged back into lockdown in the past week.
As of yesterday, states in the bloc had administered just 10.4 jab doses per 100 people compared with 42.7 jabs per 100 in the UK.
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Britain has received around 10 million vaccine doses from plants in the EU since the rollout started in December.
Reports say that Number 10 is expecting around 60 million more in the coming months.
Number 10 has told the EU to “grow up” over their blockade threats as their rollouts continue to flop behind Britain’s.
'GROW UP'
Today, the UK defence secretary Ben Wallace warned Brussels that the "world is watching" ahead of their decision next week.
He told Sky News: "The grown-up thing would be for the European Commission and some of the European leaders to not indulge in rhetoric but to recognise the obligations that we all have."
Mr Wallace added: "If contracts get broken, and undertakings, that is a very damaging thing to happen for a trading bloc that prides itself on the rule of law.
“It is counterproductive because the one thing we know about vaccine production and manufacture is that it is collaborative.
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“They would undermine not only their own citizens’ chances of having a proper vaccine programme, but also many other countries around the world, with the reputational damage for the EU which they would find very hard to change over the short term.”
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen threatened to join forces with France and Germany to hold hostage over 19 million AZ jabs scheduled to be shipped to the UK.
Under the bloc's contract with AstraZeneca, vaccines must be produced before approval and be delivered immediately afterwards.
Two factories in Britain run by Oxford Biomedica and Cobra Biologics are also listed as suppliers to the EU in the contract with AstraZeneca, but no vaccine has so far been shipped from the UK to the continent, despite Brussels’ earlier requests.
Pfizer has urged the EU to back down on its threats to block vaccine exports to the UK as essential ingredients are made in Yorkshire.
The drug giant warned that production could "grind to a halt" if Britain retaliates, sparking further jab chaos on the continent.
Yorkshire-based firm Croda International has been delivering "fatty molecules" to Pfizer's EU factories since signing a five-year contract in November.
Pfizer, and its partner BioNTech, have told the EU that Britain can strike back against any export ban by withholding vital materials, reports .
But the EU yesterday doubled down on its threat to block millions of vaccine doses to the UK.
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European Commissioner for financial services Mairead McGuinness vowed that "everything is on the table".
She said EU leaders will hold crunch talks this week after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen threatened to join Germany and France in the blockade.
Following a year living with Covid restrictions, a new report by the claims to show the true cost to the UK economy.
The report says that draconian measures are costing £500m per day in lost output whole adding £1bn to the national debt.
Yet, despite the crisis, Britain's vaccine rollout
On Saturday, the UK smashed its daily vaccine record for the second day in a row.
Yesterday, saw 844,000 more jabs administered across the UK in 24 hours.
PM Boris Johnson said: "Yesterday was a record-breaking day for the vaccine rollout, with 873,784 people receiving a jab.
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"A huge thank you to everyone involved and please come forward to get your jab when you are invited to do so."
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And while our European neighbours are plunged back into stricter lockdowns, UK Covid deaths today dropped to their lowest level in five months with 33 more fatalities recorded.
A further 5,312 people have also tested positive for the disease - bringing the total number of infections since the pandemic began to 4,296,583.
UK smashes daily vaccine record for second day in a row with 844,000 doses
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