EU warns it could block shipments of COVID-19 jabs, UK hits back

02:35

Brussels fired a not-so-thinly veiled shot at London and Washington on Wednesday, threatening to halt shipments of COVID-19 vaccines as a spike in infections and vaccine scarcity threaten to derail plans to reopen economies.

During a midday briefing, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said: "All options are on the table," as Europe fights through "the crisis of the century." And urged more reciprocity from other vaccine-producing countries.

"It is hard to explain to our citizens why vaccines produced in the European Union are going to other countries that are also producing vaccines but hardly anything is coming back," she said.

Von der Leyen said that in the six weeks since the bloc introduced vaccine export controls, 10 million doses had been sent to the UK, making it the top recipient of EU-produced vaccines. But, she said, the EU was "still waiting for doses" from Britain.

"If the situation does not change, we will have to reflect on how to make exports to vaccine-producing countries dependent on their level of openness," she said. Adding that countries that already have high vaccination rates could also be cut off.

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In response, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the Commission had questions to answer over the issue, "because the world is watching."

Raab said the UK had understood vaccine imports were agreed, adding: "We expect those assurances and legal contracted supply to be respected.

"Frankly, I'm surprised we're having this conversation."

An artist's impression of the potential EU vaccine passport. /AFP

Brussels has faced fierce criticism over its vaccine roll-out, which has been plagued with problems. Production glitches, delivery shortfalls and now, a near-EU-wide pause on the AstraZeneca vaccine, has left the bloc lagging far behind the UK, the U.S. and Israel in terms of immunizations. On Wednesday, the Commission confirmed that AstraZeneca would once again come up short and was on track to deliver only 70m of the 180m jabs expected in the second quarter.

"I support the announcement made by the EU commission president … particularly to demand reciprocity," said France's President Emmanuel Macron.

EU unveils proposal for a vaccine passport

The threat to cut off vaccine shipments comes as Europe sets its sights on reopening the tourism sector in time for summer. The Commission unveiled plans for an EU-wide "digital green certificate," which would be given to people who can either prove they've been vaccinated, recovered from the virus, or have recently tested negative.

The certificates will be in digital or physical format and include a QR code.

Individual member states will decide on what privileges the certificates will unlock and whether to accept non-EU-approved vaccines, like Russia's Sputnik V or China's Sinopharm.

The certificates are a top priority for tourism-dependent countries like Greece and Cyprus, but other countries including France and Belgium have raised concerns that the certificates could lead to discrimination.

"If we go into using these certificates in other ways, we have to see if that use is necessary, proportionate and non-discriminatory," said Didier Reynders, European commissioner for justice.

At the moment, international travelers remained barred from non-essential travel into the bloc. The Commission said non-EU nationals can obtain a vaccine passport by requesting it from the member state they're traveling to. In the medium term, the Commission said it could issue an adequacy decision on third-country-issued certificates if they were in compliance with international standards.