Trade war erupts over vaccine supplies between Europe and UK
With last night’s announcement by the European Union (EU) banning the export of vaccines to Northern Ireland, the nationalist conflict over access to vaccines has developed into a trade war between the EU and the UK.
Earlier this week, vaccine manufacturer AstraZeneca informed the EU that it could not fulfill its pledge of 100 million vaccine doses by March. It expects to provide only 31 million doses in this period, with further delays expected for 200 million more on order. The company cited problems in production at its manufacturing site in Belgium.