Sunday shows round-up: Liz Truss guarantees vaccine supply from EU

Liz Truss – We can guarantee UK’s vaccine supply

The European Union’s attempt at vaccine procurement has not been its finest hour. Concerns about lack of supply across Europe prompted the EU Commission to consider how it might override Pfizer and AstraZeneca’s prior commitments and commandeer the output of their Belgian factories for the bloc’s own internal use. Signalling that the EU might block the export of the jabs, many of which had been intended for use in the UK, triggered an immediate backlash, and the EU eventually climbed down. The International Trade Secretary Liz Truss spoke to Andrew Marr, who asked her if she could be certain that the UK would be receiving its expected doses in full:

LT: Yes I can. The Prime Minister has spoken to the President of the European Commission. She has assured him that there will be no disruption of contracts that we have with any producer in the EU… and furthermore, we are absolutely confident that our vaccine programme is on track.