Prognosis
EU Picks an Astra Vaccine Fight With U.K. Over Missing Supplies
- Bloc chief von der Leyen says Europe in crisis of the century
- EU exports more vaccines to Britain than anywhere else
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen threatened to withhold vaccine exports to the U.K., reopening a dispute with the British government that has dramatically increased tensions between the EU and its former member.
As the European Union struggles to quicken the pace of its stuttering Covid vaccination program, von der Leyen raised the prospect of pulling an emergency trigger in the bloc’s treaty -- used previously only during the oil crisis of the 1970s -- to allow authorities to effectively seize control of production and distribution.