The European Union is “still waiting” for UK prime minister Boris Johnson to say thank you for manufacturing the bulk of the Covid-19 vaccines administered in the United Kingdom, says European Commissioner Thierry Breton.
The French former chief executive, who leads EU co-ordination on vaccine manufacturing and industrial policy, made the comments in an interview with The Irish Times ahead of a trip to Dublin in which he will discuss booster orders and forthcoming reforms to tech regulation.
“We provided during this very difficult period roughly 70 per cent of what our British friends needed in terms of vaccines, because they were not able to produce themselves what was needed,” says Breton.
“I didn’t ask the prime minister, Boris Johnson, to say thank you to Europe, because I know it may be difficult for him,” he continued.
“Being responsible for all the industries in Europe, I’ve seen men and women working day and night, in 55 factories, to make sure that we’d be able to provide enough doses for everyone, including our British friends,” the internal market commissioner said.
“It would have been generous for him to say thank you, at least for these women and men who worked so hard to make sure that the British population would be able to get the vaccines that unfortunately the UK was not able to deliver, but we did,” he added.
“I’m still waiting for the thanks.”
The EU has exported 128 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to the UK, according to commission figures – more than enough for the entire British population – though some were in turn sent elsewhere.
A dispute over who had priority for orders after expected deliveries from AstraZeneca fell drastically short earlier this year soured EU-UK relations and brought Brussels to the brink of using the contentious article 16 clause of Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit agreement to enforce oversight of exports to the UK.
“AstraZeneca was was supposed to deliver 300 million doses. And they didn’t. And I don’t blame them, I know it’s very difficult,” says Breton.
“It hurt everyone, including the UK, because the UK was thinking that they would be able to rely on AstraZeneca and they were not able to. So we delivered what the UK needed. All the mRNA vaccines that vaccinated a large amount of the population in the UK were developed and manufactured in European plants.”
Breton notes that Ireland overtook the UK in its vaccination rate in July, and wants to “congratulate” the Irish rollout teams during his visit.
Omicron uncertainty
Scientists are currently assessing whether vaccines need to be updated to respond to the new Omicron variant. If so, it will take two to three months for the new generation of boosters to start to be delivered to EU countries.
Under orders already placed earlier this year, manufacturers have agreed to update the vaccines if needed for variants and the EU has a “priority right” for deliveries.
“The good news is we have the technology; it’s working. We have huge firepower in terms of production. In one month, we can produce enough vaccines to vaccinate all the adult population of Europe,” says Breton.
He notes that he is speaking on the one-year anniversary of the first Covid-19 jab, given to 90-year-old Margaret Keenan in a Coventry hospital. “We did this in just one year. Usually it takes five to 10 years,” he says.
Asked about criticism that the EU has not supported waivers of vaccine patents that supporters argue would open up access to more of the world, Breton says the bloc has supplied vaccines to 120 countries and is providing financial support to develop vaccine manufacturing hubs in South Africa and Senegal. He also urges EU countries to be prepared to donate vaccines, as they will end up with an excess.
The visit comes as the EU prepares to overhaul its regulation of the digital sector, and with Ireland’s enforcement record on the tech giants stationed in the country under mounting scrutiny.
Under the proposed overhaul, the European Commission will play a direct enforcement role when problems are deemed to be “systemic” and tech giants will be more accountable to national courts if they break local laws or are called to provide material for investigations, officials say.
Anti-vax propaganda
The explosion of anti-vaccine disinformation on social media, and the revelations of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, have increased momentum for toughened rules on content. Breton’s team recall seeing anti-vax videos become among the most popular content on Facebook.
“The one that was most unbelievable was: ‘I won’t get a vaccine, because if I get a vaccine, I will have some nanoparticles, and then 5G antenna will be able to track what I’m doing’,” Breton recalls. “This one was … pretty far.”
The commissioner says he knows most of the platform chief executives “personally” and has relationships with some stretching back to his time as a chief executive for various tech and communication companies, including France Télécom.
Has he mentioned the disinformation problem to them? “Yes, many times. They were all saying: ‘Yes, don’t worry, Mr Commissioner, we will take decisions.’ They were all committed to taking action but they didn’t. Well, some did. The result was a mixture,” he recalls.
“I’m not going to give names, but they were not inclined to change their algorithm.”
He is building a team with “specific skills” within the commission’s communication industry division that will be able to hold the platforms to account on content.
He likens it to the capacity to regulate the banking and finance industry built up within the commission since the financial crisis.
“We will be able to audit their own algorithm, and make sure that it is compatible with our regulation,” says Breton. “We will just do this for the big gatekeepers or systemic players, the systemic platforms. So, we will organise ourselves.”
Wait a second. Did the UK buy vaccines directly from the EU? I always thought they bought them from private companies? If anyone should be thanked it’s the private companies. Why are the EU inserting themselves here?
🤣🤣🤣 love it!
Christ, these idiots make our idiots look… ok, roughly the same.
Still, rather undignified.
EU politicians are always so repulsive, something just makes them stand out. Probably the fact they’re unelected which makes them so annoying. They just seem like robots.
And the UK is still waiting for an apology from the EU for seizing legally bought vaccines.
Very bizarre that he wants to dig this up again. Wasn’t exactly the EU’s finest hour. Remember the time they triggered article 16 because they were so desperately paranoid and upset that the UK was outperforming the EU? Or when they stormed a vaccine factory and were *outraged* to find… vaccines! Like I say, not their finest hour.
This is so childish
Oh good, now that the fishing wars have been quiet for a while, let’s heat up the vaccine wars again.
That brat doesn’t thank anyone.
This is the same clown who made a veiled threat to block vaccines over the Brexit deal.
They really don’t know when to stop digging, I wonder if the truth will ever come about about the 5 million bought and paid for doses allegedly diverted away from Britain.
There are times when it’s best to shit the fuck up.
Thierry Breton should’ve gone for that action.
Inb4 the usual brexit brigade
Ha lol
[deleted]
Bojo est trop con pour ça hélas
Lol
EU didn’t supply them.
One thing France and UK seem to have in common is that our politicians have literally no sense of how to behave in a dignified manner.
> “You should be kissing our asses because we didn’t force our companies to stop providing the service they accepted your money in exchange for.”
>
– Salty EU Politician
The EU stole UK-funded vaccines from the Halix factory and blocked exports to the UK and Australia.
I won’t be forgetting that in a hurry,
The mans a c**t. No different when in charge of ATOS.
What a gremlin
Yo Brexiteers, you ain’t got nothing better to do than downvote and sulk?
The EU doesn’t supply them, privaye pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer make profit from fulfilling their legal obligations.
EU did fuck all but try to place an export ban, and I guess the pharmaceutical industry thought that was a bad move and talked some sense into these idiots.
This is what happens when you have the wrong man for the job on a power trip. It’s a lie. Isn’t it?
> Commissioner for Internal Market Breton should thank UK for supplying the lipids used in crucial early Pfizer-BioNTek doses, says other people.
24 comments
The European Union is “still waiting” for UK prime minister Boris Johnson to say thank you for manufacturing the bulk of the Covid-19 vaccines administered in the United Kingdom, says European Commissioner Thierry Breton.
The French former chief executive, who leads EU co-ordination on vaccine manufacturing and industrial policy, made the comments in an interview with The Irish Times ahead of a trip to Dublin in which he will discuss booster orders and forthcoming reforms to tech regulation.
“We provided during this very difficult period roughly 70 per cent of what our British friends needed in terms of vaccines, because they were not able to produce themselves what was needed,” says Breton.
“I didn’t ask the prime minister, Boris Johnson, to say thank you to Europe, because I know it may be difficult for him,” he continued.
“Being responsible for all the industries in Europe, I’ve seen men and women working day and night, in 55 factories, to make sure that we’d be able to provide enough doses for everyone, including our British friends,” the internal market commissioner said.
“It would have been generous for him to say thank you, at least for these women and men who worked so hard to make sure that the British population would be able to get the vaccines that unfortunately the UK was not able to deliver, but we did,” he added.
“I’m still waiting for the thanks.”
The EU has exported 128 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to the UK, according to commission figures – more than enough for the entire British population – though some were in turn sent elsewhere.
A dispute over who had priority for orders after expected deliveries from AstraZeneca fell drastically short earlier this year soured EU-UK relations and brought Brussels to the brink of using the contentious article 16 clause of Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit agreement to enforce oversight of exports to the UK.
“AstraZeneca was was supposed to deliver 300 million doses. And they didn’t. And I don’t blame them, I know it’s very difficult,” says Breton.
“It hurt everyone, including the UK, because the UK was thinking that they would be able to rely on AstraZeneca and they were not able to. So we delivered what the UK needed. All the mRNA vaccines that vaccinated a large amount of the population in the UK were developed and manufactured in European plants.”
Breton notes that Ireland overtook the UK in its vaccination rate in July, and wants to “congratulate” the Irish rollout teams during his visit.
Omicron uncertainty
Scientists are currently assessing whether vaccines need to be updated to respond to the new Omicron variant. If so, it will take two to three months for the new generation of boosters to start to be delivered to EU countries.
Under orders already placed earlier this year, manufacturers have agreed to update the vaccines if needed for variants and the EU has a “priority right” for deliveries.
“The good news is we have the technology; it’s working. We have huge firepower in terms of production. In one month, we can produce enough vaccines to vaccinate all the adult population of Europe,” says Breton.
He notes that he is speaking on the one-year anniversary of the first Covid-19 jab, given to 90-year-old Margaret Keenan in a Coventry hospital. “We did this in just one year. Usually it takes five to 10 years,” he says.
Asked about criticism that the EU has not supported waivers of vaccine patents that supporters argue would open up access to more of the world, Breton says the bloc has supplied vaccines to 120 countries and is providing financial support to develop vaccine manufacturing hubs in South Africa and Senegal. He also urges EU countries to be prepared to donate vaccines, as they will end up with an excess.
The visit comes as the EU prepares to overhaul its regulation of the digital sector, and with Ireland’s enforcement record on the tech giants stationed in the country under mounting scrutiny.
Under the proposed overhaul, the European Commission will play a direct enforcement role when problems are deemed to be “systemic” and tech giants will be more accountable to national courts if they break local laws or are called to provide material for investigations, officials say.
Anti-vax propaganda
The explosion of anti-vaccine disinformation on social media, and the revelations of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, have increased momentum for toughened rules on content. Breton’s team recall seeing anti-vax videos become among the most popular content on Facebook.
“The one that was most unbelievable was: ‘I won’t get a vaccine, because if I get a vaccine, I will have some nanoparticles, and then 5G antenna will be able to track what I’m doing’,” Breton recalls. “This one was … pretty far.”
The commissioner says he knows most of the platform chief executives “personally” and has relationships with some stretching back to his time as a chief executive for various tech and communication companies, including France Télécom.
Has he mentioned the disinformation problem to them? “Yes, many times. They were all saying: ‘Yes, don’t worry, Mr Commissioner, we will take decisions.’ They were all committed to taking action but they didn’t. Well, some did. The result was a mixture,” he recalls.
“I’m not going to give names, but they were not inclined to change their algorithm.”
He is building a team with “specific skills” within the commission’s communication industry division that will be able to hold the platforms to account on content.
He likens it to the capacity to regulate the banking and finance industry built up within the commission since the financial crisis.
“We will be able to audit their own algorithm, and make sure that it is compatible with our regulation,” says Breton. “We will just do this for the big gatekeepers or systemic players, the systemic platforms. So, we will organise ourselves.”
Wait a second. Did the UK buy vaccines directly from the EU? I always thought they bought them from private companies? If anyone should be thanked it’s the private companies. Why are the EU inserting themselves here?
🤣🤣🤣 love it!
Christ, these idiots make our idiots look… ok, roughly the same.
Still, rather undignified.
EU politicians are always so repulsive, something just makes them stand out. Probably the fact they’re unelected which makes them so annoying. They just seem like robots.
And the UK is still waiting for an apology from the EU for seizing legally bought vaccines.
Very bizarre that he wants to dig this up again. Wasn’t exactly the EU’s finest hour. Remember the time they triggered article 16 because they were so desperately paranoid and upset that the UK was outperforming the EU? Or when they stormed a vaccine factory and were *outraged* to find… vaccines! Like I say, not their finest hour.
This is so childish
Oh good, now that the fishing wars have been quiet for a while, let’s heat up the vaccine wars again.
That brat doesn’t thank anyone.
This is the same clown who made a veiled threat to block vaccines over the Brexit deal.
[https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/comply-with-brexit-deal-or-well-block-vaccines-eu-commissioner-thierry-breton-suggests-282q25fvh](https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/comply-with-brexit-deal-or-well-block-vaccines-eu-commissioner-thierry-breton-suggests-282q25fvh)
They really don’t know when to stop digging, I wonder if the truth will ever come about about the 5 million bought and paid for doses allegedly diverted away from Britain.
There are times when it’s best to shit the fuck up.
Thierry Breton should’ve gone for that action.
Inb4 the usual brexit brigade
Ha lol
[deleted]
Bojo est trop con pour ça hélas
Lol
EU didn’t supply them.
One thing France and UK seem to have in common is that our politicians have literally no sense of how to behave in a dignified manner.
> “You should be kissing our asses because we didn’t force our companies to stop providing the service they accepted your money in exchange for.”
>
– Salty EU Politician
The EU stole UK-funded vaccines from the Halix factory and blocked exports to the UK and Australia.
I won’t be forgetting that in a hurry,
The mans a c**t. No different when in charge of ATOS.
What a gremlin
Yo Brexiteers, you ain’t got nothing better to do than downvote and sulk?
The EU doesn’t supply them, privaye pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer make profit from fulfilling their legal obligations.
EU did fuck all but try to place an export ban, and I guess the pharmaceutical industry thought that was a bad move and talked some sense into these idiots.
This is what happens when you have the wrong man for the job on a power trip. It’s a lie. Isn’t it?
> Commissioner for Internal Market Breton should thank UK for supplying the lipids used in crucial early Pfizer-BioNTek doses, says other people.