Ursula von der Leyen has threatened to halt exports of AstraZeneca vaccines if the EU does not receive its deliveries first, in a worsening row over delayed shipments that has caused international tensions. The EU chief told the British-Swedish pharmaceutical company it has to come through on deliveries to the bloc. In an interview with … Read more
The EU is facing vaccine chaos after AstraZeneca announced a fresh shortfall in planned shipments as five European countries claim others are signing ‘secret contracts’ to make sure they get extra jabs. The pharmaceutical giant cited production problems and export restrictions as the cause for the delay. In a statement it said: ‘AstraZeneca is disappointed … Read more
The EU today announced it had bought another 300million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and approved a plan to scrape an extra dose out of each vial as the bloc tries to catch up to the faster rollouts in the US and Britain. With Israel still leading the global race – having given jabs to … Read more
Coronavirus vaccine makers have blasted the EU for being too slow to secure stocks of the jab as pressure mounts on France and Germany to speed up immunisation. The founder of BioNTech Uğur Şahin warned a ‘gap’ had emerged after EU leaders bet on other vaccines’ approval rather than ordering from those already available. He told Der … Read more
From the sinister to the surreal: Fascinating Soviet-era postcards show the Eastern Bloc in all its brutal glory The postcards, which date from the 1960s to the 1980s, feature in a book called Brutal Bloc Postcards It features images depicting vast housing blocks, huge industrial factories and monuments to comradeship The book’s publisher, Fuel, says: ‘These … Read more