In big bold type, the vaccination table produced by Prime Minister
It also indicated how, beyond the medical complexity, the humanitarian needs and the personal pain felt across the continent, the pandemic is also an intense political fight.
It's not just the age-old acrimony between the European mainland and the
One guiding principle runs through most of the debate. The crisis, that's already killed well over half a million Europeans, and the solution, with vaccines far too scarce, are such that nations say: We need to take care of our own people first, whatever the consequences. On top of that, there's the view that the sooner people are vaccinated the faster the continent's faltering economies can be revved up again.
“This is obviously sort of what’s being called vaccine nationalism. And you know — this is big politics," said
Compounding the political implications is the power play between strong governments and the giants of industry, in this case Big Pharma. And from the sidelines, poor nations can only watch as rich nations go for each other's throats.
“What’s much worse is that these squabbles between rich countries ... potentially deny vaccines to people in the rest of the world," Yates said.
Much of that political bile pools together in the small Belgian industrial town of Seneffe south of
It was a sucker punch for the 27-nation EU, which has staked its credibility on a massive, quick and smooth rollout of the vaccines for its population of 450 million. Despite billions of euros in EU pre-funding, the operation has so far missed many of its targets.
Quickly eyes turned to recently-departed
It's a political standoff in which
“The really important thing is making sure that our own vaccination program proceeds precisely as planned,” said senior cabinet minister
It's indicative of the tension and suspicion that
“No company should be under any illusion that we don't have the means to understand what is happening," warned Kyriakides.
In the standoff with
Only on Thursday, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator
There have been signs of vaccine nationalism here too, with some media and the far-right Alternative for
Which would make it all the more important for
"It’s about Europe’s fair share,” Spahn said.
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