.jpg "The comparatively small number of doses that a ban would keep within the EU would advance the full vaccination of every adult by just over a week. Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters")
Britain’s Covid vaccine programme faces a two-month delay in the event of an EU export ban, derailing the government’s plans to reopen the economy this summer, an analysis for the Guardian reveals.
A ban, due to be debated by leaders of the 27 EU member states on Thursday, would badly stall the UK vaccination effort, and would be likely to force the government to extend restrictions on people’s lives.
It would not, however, provide a significant boost to EU member states’ troubled programmes, according to a report by the data analytics company Airfinity.
The comparatively small number of doses that would be kept within the bloc would speed up the full vaccination of every adult in the EU by “just over a week”, the research suggests.
The prime minister, Boris Johnson, is expected to speak to his European counterparts ahead of Thursday’s meeting. Government sources told Press Association Johnson spoke to the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, along with Dutch and Belgian prime ministers Mark Rutte and Alexander De Croo last week. He may speak to other EU leaders over the coming days, the government source said.
