A European Union official said on Sunday that the UK will not receive shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccine produced in the Netherlands as the EU tries to reserve doses of the vaccine for its citizens.
Speaking to Reuters, an unnamed EU official said: “The British insist that the Halix plant in the Netherlands must deliver the pharmacological substance produced there. That does not work.”
The plant, based in the Dutch city of Leiden, is run by a subcontractor named Halix and is responsible for supplying AstraZeneca’s contracts with Britain and the EU, Reuters reports.
“What happens in Halix has to go to the EU,” the EU official said.
“The European Commission will know that the rest of the world is watching the Commission on how it behaves in this and if contracts and companies are broken, this is very detrimental to a trading bloc that prides itself on the rules of the right, “British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said on Sunday in response to reports that European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen had threatened to block shipments to Britain.
Earlier, the EU had threatened to block exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the UK, and Von der Leyen said the situation in Europe was getting worse.
However, the EU official fired and told Reuters that no contract had been broken.
Reuters notes that although the AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use in the EU, Halix’s approval has not yet been received. Documents obtained by the news media show that Halix expects to receive approval on Thursday.
According to the latest report from the British National Health Service, 20,661,496 people have received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, which represents 45.4% of the UK population over the age of 16.
This dispute comes shortly after several European countries temporarily halted the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to concerns that it was causing blood clots. Countries such as Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland and Norway suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine pending a recommendation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
On Thursday, the EMA announced that it found the AstraZeneca vaccine to be safe and effective, although it could not rule out a link between the shot and blood clots. The EMA said the benefits of the shot far outweighed the potential risks.
“Our scientific position is that this vaccine is a safe and effective option to protect citizens against COVID-19,” said Emer Cooke, executive director of the EMA. “We have made this review our top priority.”