By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: A health worker fills a syringe with a dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the Appleton Village Pharmacy, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Widnes, Britain, January 14, 2021. REUTERS/Jason Cairnduff
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain’s supply of vaccines from AstraZeneca must not be interrupted, Minister for the Cabinet Office Michael Gove said on Thursday, when asked if the government would allow shots to be diverted to the European Union.
“We must make sure that we continue with the effective acceleration of our vaccination programme,” Gove told BBC Radio. “That relies on the supply schedule that has been agreed being honoured.”
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AstraZeneca has offered to bring forward some deliveries of its vaccine to the EU.
London:
Britain said on Thursday it must receive all of the COVID-19 vaccines it had ordered and paid for after the European Union asked AstraZeneca if it could divert supplies of the Oxford-developed shots from Britain.
The European Union, which is far behind the United States, China and Britain on rolling out a vaccine, demanded AstraZeneca spell out how it would supply the bloc with reserved doses of COVID-19 vaccine from plants in Europe and Britain.
AstraZeneca, which is headquartered in Cambridge, England, has offered to bring forward some deliveries of its vaccine to the EU which has asked the drugmaker if it can divert doses from the UK to make up for a shortfall in supplies.
UK vaccine rollout must not be interrupted, UK minister says of EU demand By Sergio Goncalves
FILE PHOTO: COVID-19 vaccinations in Blackpool
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s supply of vaccines from AstraZeneca must not be interrupted, Minister for the Cabinet Office Michael Gove said on Thursday, when asked if the government would allow shots to be diverted to the European Union.
“We must make sure that we continue with the effective acceleration of our vaccination programme,” Gove told BBC Radio. “That relies on the supply schedule that has been agreed being honoured.”
When asked if Britain would allow the vaccine to be diverted to the EU, as requested by some politicians in the bloc, Gove said: “It is the case that the supplies which have been planned, paid for and scheduled should continue. Absolutely, there will be no interruption to that.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson heads to Scotland on Thursday in a bid to stem growing support for another independence referendum by arguing that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the benefits of staying together. The bonds that tie England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland together in a $3 trillion economy have been severely strained by both Brexit and Johnson's handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Opinion surveys show that a majority of Scots would now back independence, though Johnson has repeatedly said that now is not the time for another referendum that could break apart the more than 314-year-old union between England and Scotland.