The war between the EU and AstraZeneca deepened on Friday as Brussels published a redacted version of the confidential vaccines contract it signed with the drug-maker. The EU hopes publishing the contract will force AstraZeneca to supply it with millions of jabs manufactured at UK factories to make up for shortfalls at a Belgian plant … Read more
The EU’s vaccine shambles descended further into chaos today as it emerged the bloc has not yet signed a deal to buy British-made Novavax jabs which passed phase III trials yesterday with a 90% success rate. Ministers from the EU commission only completed ‘exploratory’ talks to buy Novavax, which is being made in a Tesside … Read more
A £215,000-a-year BBC journalist was today embroiled in an impartiality row after claiming Boris Johnson had ‘berated’ the EU over the coronavirus vaccines dispute. Europe editor Katya Adler, 48, who is based in Brussels, prompted fury with a tweet after the EU tried to requisition tens of millions of vaccine doses made from the UK. … Read more
Brussels will unveil dramatic new powers tomorrow that could see the shipment of millions of vaccine doses to Britain being blocked within days. As the row over the EU jabs shortage intensifies, the European Commission will establish a mechanism to allow member states to refuse vaccine exports. The move will heighten fears about whether Britain’s … Read more
Nicola Sturgeon was accused of taking the EU’s side in the bitter vaccine row today as she vowed to publish details of the UK’s supplies despite Boris Johnson ordering her to keep them secret. In an extraordinary move, the First Minister risked undermining Britain’s position, with Brussels heaping pressure on firms to give the bloc … Read more
How grand, how admirable it sounded back in June when the European Union set up a Covid-19 vaccine-buying programme to pool the purchase power of all member states. This pan-European approach would, it was claimed, ‘ensure fair and equitable access for all across the EU’. Under the terms of the programme, individual countries were forbidden … Read more
Cranes and building machinery were deployed to a lake in Serbia last week to clear a thick layer of waste covering its surface. Tons of floating waste have accumulated at the foot of the Lim River hydro-electric power plant on the Potpeć Reservoir in southwest Serbia following heavy rains earlier this year. The islands of rubbish … Read more
What would happen if the EU forced Pfizer to stop delivering Covid vaccines? UK could miss out on 3.5m doses between now and February and rely totally on AstraZeneca’s plan to hit 2m per week by Monday Eurocrats proposed plans to stop vaccine exports could cut Britain’s supplies Pfizer – which manufactures doses in Belgium … Read more
Furious Tories today warned that the EU will ‘poison’ relations for ‘a generation’ if it follows through on extraordinary threats to block Pfizer vaccines going to the UK – as ministers insisted they are ‘confident’ supplies will be maintained. Amid a shambolic rollout across the bloc, Brussels has demanded drug firms give them early warning … Read more
A double-dip recession in the Eurozone is ‘increasingly inevitable’ due to Covid-19, with France among the countries most seriously hit, experts have warned. The slowdown in Eurozone business activities intensified in January as the pandemic continued to batter the economy, a key survey showed on Friday. The closely watched PMI index compiled by IHS Markit … Read more