UK’s leader rejects EU claims of vaccine blocking

By AFP 10 March 2021, 2:41 pm

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Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson rejects claims from European Council chief Charles Michel that the country has imposed a ban on COVID vaccine exports.

“Let me be clear: We have not blocked the export of a single COVID-19 vaccine or vaccine components,” he tells parliament.

“This pandemic has put us all on the same side in the battle for global health. We oppose vaccine nationalism in all its forms.”

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson attends a virtual press conference inside 10 Downing Street in central London on March 8, 2021 (HANNAH MCKAY / POOL / AFP)

Johnson’s comments come after London summoned an EU diplomat for a dressing-down, and wrote to Michel to protest about his claim made in a newsletter.

Michel wrote that “the United Kingdom and the United States have imposed an outright ban on the export of vaccines or vaccine components produced on their territory.”