Covid 19 coronavirus: Europe threatens to seize vaccine factories 17 Mar, 2021 08:51 PM 4 minutes to read By: Ben Graham Europe is in the midst of its "crisis of the century" as it threatens to seize AstraZeneca factories and strip the company of its intellectual property rights in a major escalation in tensions over coronavirus vaccines. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen refused to rule out the moves overnight, saying "all options are on the table" as the bloc struggles to vaccinate its 450 million citizens amid a third Covid-19 wave. "We are in the crisis of the century. "I'm not ruling out anything for now because we have to make sure that Europeans are vaccinated as soon as possible. Human lives, civil liberties and also the prosperity of our economy are dependent on the speed of vaccinations."