The European Union is ready to worsen already strained relations with London in order to save its own failed vaccination campaign.
According to Bloomberg, citing a senior Brussels official, the EU will soon reject requests to export the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to the UK until the drug manufacturer fulfills its obligations to the commonwealth.
Brussels has been wrestling with contracts from AstraZeneca for several weeks, as the company admitted it was unable to fulfill all orders. In this regard, the vaccine and its individual components produced in the EU will be reserved for local consumers, an unnamed official told reporters.
Although the drug AstraZeneca has recently been at the epicenter of a scandal over the formation of blood clots in vaccinated people, the EU is trying to compensate for the very poor start of vaccination.
EU leaders will gather this week to finally decide whether to impose export restrictions. Supporters of the ban are reportedly France and Italy. At the same time, Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands are calling for caution in this matter.