The EU has tried to substitute different nations by offering a collective contract. This is not part of the competences of the EU and it didn t even work properly as a simple purchasing centre for vaccines. Today we are in a particularly unfavourable situation within the EU. There is no EU strategy! French MP erupts as Brussels cooperation splinters on vaccines (Image: RT)
France: Jérôme Rivière has lashed out at Brussels for their continuous failures on their vaccine strategy. (Image: GETTY)
The Rassemblement National MEP continued: One example is the UK, which outside the EU does better at getting its supplies.
The League MP, from Matteo Salvini s party, lashed out against the bloc after more than a dozen member states suspended the use of the Anglo-Swedish vaccine on Monday.
He wrote: The AstraZeneca question is simple: if the vaccine is safe and it s a trade war against Britain, for the EU it s a huge scandal.
Mr Borghi also added that even if the move did not lie behind the UK s decision to leave the bloc and AstraZeneca was unsafe to use as some in the EU have claimed, it would be an even bigger scandal for Brussels.
He added: If the vaccine is not safe and the Swiss were right not to put it into circulation in the EU, it is an even bigger scandal.
| UPDATED: 18:59, Wed, Mar 17, 2021
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The vaccine rollout throughout the EU has stumbled, leaving the bloc trailing far behind several other nations - including the departing UK - in terms of the number and proportion of people to receive a vaccine. The European Union rate of vaccine doses administered per 100 people stands at just 11.81, according to rolling data on the Our World In Data website, compared to the UK s rate of 39.04. But the vaccine row hit new heights on Wednesday when Commission President Ursula von der Leyen threatened to block the export of coronavir
| UPDATED: 14:56, Wed, Mar 17, 2021
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A host of EU capitals have expressed concern over a clause in the bloc’s contract with pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson that means most vaccines made in Europe must be sent to the US for bottling. The European Commission was said to have reassured governments but insiders fear doses will not be returned to member states because Washington has an export ban in place. And diplomats and officials believe this could have serious repercussions for Brussels’ plan to have 70 percent of all adults vaccinated by September 21..