First Minister of Northern Ireland Arlene Foster was among those hitting out at a new temporary European Union（EU） export control tool on Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines.
“This is an incredible act of hostility,” she said in a statement shared on Twitter.
“At the first opportunity the EU has placed a hard border between (British region) Northern Ireland and (EU member state) the Republic of Ireland,” the head of the pro-Brexit Democratic Unionist Party wrote.
EU sources told dpa that “certain aspects” of the new tool’s regulation are “still under discussion.”
Northern Ireland has remained largely aligned with EU customs rules precisely to avoid extensive checks at the Irish border.
But the new EU export controls could hinder vaccines from being sent to Northern Ireland, which Foster says runs counter to the Brexit deal.
Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove had already spoken to European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic to express Britain’s concern, a British government spokesperson said. Further steps would now be considered, they added.
Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said Dublin was in touch with the European Commission “to resolve this issue and protect the integrity and operation of the NI Protocol.”
Earlier on Friday, senior World Health Organisation (WHO) official Mariangela Simao said a new EU scheme that allows export bans for COVID-19 vaccines was not helpful at this stage of the pandemic.
The EU commission on Friday created an EU “transparency register” on exports of COVID-19 shots outside the bloc until the end of March.
As of Saturday, national authorities in the EU will be allowed to refuse exports from the bloc if they believe that a pharmaceutical company has not fulfilled supply commitments to the EU.
“It’s a very worrying trend,” said Simao, an assistant WHO director general who is responsible for the world’s access to pharmaceutical products.
“We all need these vaccines to be shared equitably” among all countries, she added.
Simao also argued that that the free flow of vaccine ingredients and materials must be ensured, as making vaccines requires several countries in a series of production steps.
WHO officials warned that the world’s poorest countries stand to suffer the most if vaccines are being hoarded by wealthy countries.
WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus did not directly comment on the EU scheme but warned that the world should learn from the HIV/AIDS crisis and from the H1N1 influenza pandemic of 2009.
HIV medications arrived in developing countries almost a decade after patients in developed countries got them, and H1N1 vaccines reached developing countries only when the epidemic was over, Tedros said.
“Do we want to repeat the same history now? I don’t think so,” he said.
At this stage, rich countries should immunise their health staff and old citizens but should not go further down their priority list, Tedros said.
He said any shots that remained after the top-priority group had been inoculated should be given to poorer countries, which also need to protect their medical workers and elderly now.
“When a village is on fire, it makes no sense for a small group of people to hoard all the extinguishers to defend their own houses.
“The fire will be put out faster if everyone has an extinguisher and works together，” Tedros said.
The WHO chief also appealed to citizens of wealthy countries to use their voice to advocate for your government to share doses.
Nearly one year ago, on Jan. 30, the WHO declared a global health emergency to rally an international response to the novel coronavirus.
At that time, there were fewer than 100 COVID-19 cases and no related deaths outside China, where the disease was first noticed in late 2019.
The global case number surpassed 100 million this week.
“A year ago, I said the world had a window of opportunity to prevent widespread transmission of this new virus. Some countries heeded that call, some did not,” Tedros said.
（dpa/NAN）