The astonishing move could scupper the arrival of tens of millions of doses of the life-saving jab in Britain.
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Shocked MPs branded the EU âmean-spirited and selfishâ for making such a brazen threat.
Under the dramatic plans, all pharmaceutical giants making vaccines in the EU will have to give âearly notificationâ to the bloc if they want to export.
All 40million doses of the Pfizer vaccine ordered by the UK are believed to be made at the firmâs plant in Brussels.
And around 25million doses that have not yet been dispatched to Britain could be threatened by an export ban, The Sun understands.
AstraZeneca, which makes the Oxford vaccine, also has factories in the EU.
But it is believed the majority of the vaccine used on Britons is made at its plants in Oxford and Keele, Staffordshire.
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Risking a major diplomatic row, EU health boss Stella Kyriakides said they will take âany action requiredâ to help their crisis-hit vaccination programme.
She warned: âWe want clarity on transactions and full transparency concerning the export of vaccines from the EU.
âIn the future, all companies producing vaccines against Covid-19 in the EU will have to provide early notification whenever they want to export vaccines to third countries.
âHumanitarian deliveries are of course not affected by this.
âThe European Union will take any action required to protect its citizens and rights.â
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Also piling in, the ÂGerman Health Minister Jens Spahn added: âWe, as the EU, must be able to know whether and what vaccines are being exported from the EU.
âOnly that way can we understand whether our EU contracts with the producers are being served fairly.
âAn obligation to get approval for vaccine exports on the EU level makes sense.â
The EU is angry after AstraZeneca cut the number of vaccines it is sending to the bloc, but did not slash British supplies.
Meanwhile, the European Union has been left shamed on the world stage for the snailâs pace of their vaccination programme.
The UK has jabbed five times as many people per head of the population as the EU.
British MPs savaged the EU for resorting to such desperate threats during a pandemic.
Tory MP and former party leader Iain Duncan Smith said: âThis behaviour is atrocious.
âThe UK has quite legitimately opened up access to its vaccines and made it very clear it intends vaccines to be sent all around the world.
âContrast that with the mean-spirited, selfish behaviour of the EU. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.â
Tory MP Peter Bone said: âThe United Kingdom has provided an extraordinary number of vaccines â we have led the world in it.
âWe have vaccinated more Âpeople in the last three days than France has.
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âI am shocked if the European superstate is trying to block the export of vaccine just because of its inefficiency and bureaucracy.
âIt is just another example of why we should be out of this Âterrible organisation.
âIt is outrageous from the EU. I think most people will find that quite shocking.â
Last night German officials said in highly inflammatory anonymous claims published in the country’s newspaper Bild that AstraZenecaâs vaccine was just 8% effective for those over 65.
However AstraZeneca and the Oxford team that developed the jab quickly rubbished the claims calling them âcompletely incorrectâ.
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A spokesperson for AstraZeneca, said: âReports that the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine efficacy is as low as 8% in adults over 65 years are completely incorrect.
âIn the UK, the JCVI supported use in this population and MHRA included this group without dose adjustment in the authorisation for emergency supply.
âIn November, we published data in The Lancet demonstrating that older adults showed strong immune responses to the vaccine, with 100% of older adults generating spike-specific antibodies after the second dose.â
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An Oxford spokesperson said: âThere is no basis for the claims of low efficacy of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine which have been circulating in the media.
“The results of the clinical trials have already been published transparently in 5 peer-reviewed scientific publications showing similar immune responses in younger and older adults and a good safety profile, and high efficacy in younger adults.
“Furthermore, the preliminary efficacy data in older adults are consistent with that observed in younger adults.â
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Sage scientist Professor John Edmunds says people shouldn’t be ‘overly concerned’ about single Covid dose reports
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