Covid: UK vaccine supplies 'won't be interrupted' - Gove

PA Media

There "will be no interruption" to UK vaccine supplies, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has said, after the EU urged AstraZeneca to supply it with doses from UK plants.

"It is the case that the supplies that have been planned, paid for and scheduled should continue," he added.

The EU and AstraZeneca are involved in a row over vaccine supply shortages.

Sir Jeremy Farrar, a scientific adviser to the UK government, said "vaccine nationalism" doesn't serve anyone.

The EU has demanded that UK-made jabs are diverted to Europe to fulfil contractual obligations.

AstraZeneca has previously said it could deliver the EU only a fraction of the doses between January and March that it had promised, blaming production issues at European plants.

• EU and AstraZeneca seek to resolve vaccine crisis
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Mr Gove said: "We must make sure that we continue with the effective acceleration of our vaccination programme. That relies on the supply schedule that has been agreed to be honoured. That's the first and most important thing.

"But secondarily I'm sure we all want to do everything possible to make sure that as many people in countries which are our friends and neighbours are vaccinated and I think we best achieve that through dialogue and co-operation and friendship," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Pressed on whether the government will allow vaccines to go to the EU, he said: "No, the critical thing is we must make sure that the schedule that has been agreed and on which our vaccination programme has been based and planned goes ahead.

"It is the case that the supplies that have been planned, paid for and scheduled should continue, absolutely. There will be no interruption to that."

The UK government has promised to to deliver a first vaccine dose to 15 million of the most vulnerable by mid-February and to offer all adults their first dose by autumn.

Latest figures show that more than 7.1 million people in the UK have now received a first jab.

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January 28, 2021 at 09:20PM

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55838272