The EU’s vaccine shambles is turning into a re-run of the euro crisis

Rewind a few months, and it was all meant to be very different. With Covid-19 rampant across the world, the European Union would take charge of sourcing vaccines from the major drugs companies. Its massive buying and regulatory power, coupled with its finely-tuned administrative machine, would make sure its 440 million people were protected from the virus before anyone else. It would be a magnificent demonstration of the whole point of the organisation. The trouble is, not only has the project already started to come off the rails, it is getting worse with every day that passes. Europe’s vaccine alliance is crumbling with potentially far-reaching consequences.

The president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen was already under intense pressure last week after it emerged the EU had bought too few of the wrong vaccines. This week, countries have started to peel away from the programme.