A European Union official said on Sunday that the United Kingdom would not receive deliveries of AstraZeneca vaccine that were produced in the Netherlands, as the EU is trying to reserve doses of 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 drug produced there to them. That does not work.”
The plant, based in the Dutch city of Leiden, is run by a subcontractor named Halix and deals with the supply of AstraZeneca contracts with the UK and the EU, Reuters reports.
“What is happening in Halix must go to the EU,” the EU official said.
“The European Commission will know that the rest of the world is looking at the Commission, how it is behaving in this regard, and if contracts are broken, and businesses, this is very damaging for a trading bloc that is proud of the rules of British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said earlier on Sunday in response to reports that European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen had threatened to block transport to Britain.
Earlier, the EU had threatened to block exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine to the UK, with Von der Leyen saying the situation in Europe was getting worse.
However, the EU official declined, telling Reuters that no contracts had been breached.
Reuters notes that although the AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use in the EU, approval for Halix has not yet been received. Documents obtained by the news media show that Halix expects to receive approval by Thursday.
According to the latest report from the British National Health Service, 20,661,496 people received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine, representing 45.4% of the UK population over the age of 16.
This dispute comes shortly after several European countries temporarily stopped administering the AstraZeneca vaccine due to concerns that it would cause blood clots. Countries, including Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland and Norway, have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine pending a recommendation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
On Thursday, the EMA announced that it had found that the AstraZeneca vaccine was safe and effective, although it could not rule out a link between the vaccine and blood clots. The EMA said the benefits of the shooting 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 EMA Executive Director Emer Cooke. “We have made this review the highest priority.”