European Council chief Michel rejects accusations of ‘vaccine nationalism’

European Council President Charles Michel on Tuesday rejected charges of “vaccine nationalism” levelled against the EU, and said that while
Britain and the United States have outright bans on exports of COVID-19 shots, the EU had not stopped exporting.

The EU has found itself under fire at home for a vaccine rollout far slower than those of former member Britain or the United States, and abroad for so far doing less than China, Russia or India to supply vaccines to poor countries.

For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.

Last week it annoyed vaccine buyers abroad by backing an Italian decision to halt a shipment to Australia.

For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

In a lengthy statement Michel, who represents the leaders of the 27 European Union member states, laid out a defense of the bloc’s strategy.

He said that without Europe, it would not have been possible to develop and produce several vaccines in less than a year, and EU solidarity had helped poor countries get first doses.

He took aim at the “highly publicized” supply of vaccines by China and Russia to other countries.

“We should not let ourselves be misled by China and Russia, both regimes with less desirable values than ours, as they organize highly limited but widely publicized operations to supply vaccines to others,” he said. He also noted that China and Russia had both vaccinated fewer people at home than the EU.

“Europe will not use vaccines for propaganda purposes. We promote our values.”

He defended a system to control the export of doses produced in EU countries, invoked by Italy last week to block a shipment of AstraZeneca shots to Australia.

“Our objective: to prevent companies from which we have ordered and pre-financed doses from exporting them to other advanced countries when they have not delivered to us what was promised,” Michel said. “The EU has never stopped exporting.”

He said that the EU will become the world’s leading vaccine producer in the coming months and was the best equipped to adapt vaccine production quickly to virus mutations.

Read more:

EU will not budge after AstraZeneca offers 8 mln extra coronavirus vaccine shots

EU's von der Leyen tells skittish Europeans: I'd take coronavirus AstraZeneca vaccine

Coronavirus: AstraZeneca to deliver 9 mln more vaccine doses, says EU’s Von der Leyen