they’re exporting vaccines almost to exclusion of their own needs
We’d all feel the same if we turned up to a supermarket to find the someone else had bagged all the toilet rolls. Especially if half of them refuse to use that sort of toilet roll.
This is the myth being pedalled by Ursula ...
The vaccines are produced in the EU by private companies with contracts to honour. These vaccines are not produced by the EU, nor are they EU vaccines for the European Commission to dispense or distribute as it sees fit.
Instead of bad mouthing Astra Zeneca, and by implication, the UK (essentially the EU's complaint is that even though the UK invested upfront, provided expertise and planned early, while the EU did nothing but haggle on price and signed contracts late, AZ vaccines should be "shared fairly", thus disregarding contract rights and UK's efforts, foresight and investments), the EU should ask HMG for help via normal diplomatic channels. Berating someone you need help from publicly is not going to make them more predisposed to help you.
As for toilet rolls, it is EU member states who are stockpiling them. In any event, the analogy is flawed because you don't buy vaccines from supermarkets, and vaccines are not common everyday commodity items.
