BORIS Johnson today warned Brussels NOT to push ahead with plans to try and blockade vaccines – or pharma giants will leave Europe and relocate.
The PM made a last minute plea ahead of an EU-wide meeting tomorrow on whether to slap restrictions on jabs to help the bloc’s fledgling rollout.
This afternoon Eurocrats unveiled a new crackdown on shipments of jabs outside the bloc as the continent spirals into a devastating third wave.
They have expanded the scope of their powers to target countries that they feel aren’t treating the bloc “fairly”.
They will hold a crunch meeting to discuss the plans across the EU tomorrow.
But the PM made a last-minute warning to them today not to go ahead – saying pharma giants like AstraZeneca would simply flee and set up in another country.
He told MPs on the liasion committee this afternoon: “I don’t think that blocades of either vaccines or of medicines are a sensible thing, and I think that the long term damage done by blockades can be very big.
“I would just gently point out to anybody considering a blockade or interruption of supply chains… that companies may look at such actions and draw conclusions about whether it is suitable to make future investments in countries where arbitrary blockades are introduced.”
