No vaccines sent to EU, but UK denies export ban

The EU has exported 35 million vaccines, 9 million have been sent to the UK. The UK, which denies having an export ban, has exported none to the EU. 

In a newsletter, European Council President Charles Michel claimed that the United Kingdom had imposed an “outright ban” on the export of vaccines or vaccine components. The claim was swiftly refuted by the UK’s foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, who described this view as “completely false” and demanded a meeting with the EU’s ambassador. 

The ambassador was in Brussels, so his deputy, Nicole Mannion, met with the permanent under-secretary of the Foreign Office, Sir Philip Barton. A UK spokesperson said that they had discussed “incorrect assertions in recent EU communications”.

In a tweet, Michel appeared to partly acknowledge that “an outright ban” was an inaccurate description, writing that there were different ways to impose bans or restrictions on vaccines. He said that he hoped the UK’s reaction to his comments would result in more transparency and increased exports from the UK to the EU and other third countries. 

An EU source has revealed that while the EU has exported 35 million vaccines, 9 million of which were sent to the UK, the UK has not exported any vaccines to the EU. At prime ministers questions, Boris Johnson said that the UK could be proud of its international response and wished to correct the suggestion that the UK had blocked vaccine exports: “let me be clear, we have not blocked the export of a single COVID-19 vaccine or vaccine components.”

A UK government spokesperson said: “The movement of vaccines and their components into and out of the UK is driven by contractual obligations vaccine suppliers have to their customers. 

“These decisions are made by the manufacturers and the UK government does not restrict the free movement of these critical goods.”

We asked European Commision spokesperson, Eric Mamer, if the absence of UK to EU vaccine exports was tantamount to an outright ban. He replied: “It's not for us to comment on what is tantamount to a ban. What we know for certain is that we are a big player in terms of supplying doses of vaccines to our partners across the world and we certainly want this to continue. 

“Of course, we hope that the global supply chains that help the production of vaccines will remain open so that everybody can benefit from the vaccine as quickly as possible.” He added that he expected that all companies that the EU had completed advance purchase agreements with would respect their commitments. 

Europe well place to lead in the marathon that is vaccine rollout

In his newsletter, Charles Michel recognized that there had been strong criticism of national authorities and the EU over delays in the production and deployment of vaccines. He wrote that the EU was not lagging behind in a sprint, but “well placed to lead the field in a marathon”. He underlined how the EU’s approach was one of solidarity, guaranteeing a fair supply to all EU countries, by collective investment in a basket of different vaccines. The EU is also thinking ahead and investing in vaccines to deal with any future variants. 

Michel highlighted the EU’s leading role in financing research, especially research into messenger RNA and as a major contributor to global efforts, with €2.7 billion committed by the EU and member states to the COVAX fund, for accessible and affordable vaccines - that amounts to 25% of its total funding. It has also pre-ordered 2 billion doses of vaccine for outside the EU. Europe is likely to be the leading producer of vaccines by the end of the year. 

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