EU set to block covid vaccine exports to UK

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EU could hinder export of the Oxford-AstraZeneca inoculation to the UK. "That is the message to AstraZeneca."

The caution comes after the rising frustration in Europe that the EU is not getting the supplies it expected from the British-Swedish vaccine manufacturer, AstraZeneca.

However, EU leaders are set to meet on Thursday to discuss the potential export ban of the vaccine to the UK.

A senior official told an international news agency that any vaccines produced in factories in Europe "will for now be reserved for local deliveries.”

However, she said: "We also know that AstraZeneca has tactlessly under-produced and under-delivered."

She said that the situation is getting worse and they need to accelerate vaccination rates.

"This is why we need to ensure that there is reciprocity and proportionality," she added.

"We will reflect on whether exports to countries who have higher vaccination rates than us are still balanced."

UK Health Minister Helen Whately told an international media outlet that one thing UK think to do is to remind the EU of the commitments it had made.

Particularly Ursula von der Leyen, the EU president, made a commitment to the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the EU wouldn't block companies from fulfilling their contractual obligations to supply vaccinations and the EU must absolutely stand by that commitment, he added.