Send surplus jabs to the Republic of Ireland to help our Irish 'neighbours', Boris Johnson is urged amid EU vaccine row
Boris Johnson is facing mounting calls to come to the aid of our Irish Republic ‘cousins’ and donate surplus Covid vaccines to Dublin.
Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster said yesterday that ‘we can help our neighbours in the Republic’ to escape the EU jabs crisis by offering them spare UK supplies.
Mrs Foster appeared to make the offer conditional on Dublin recognising that the post-Brexit settlement for Northern Ireland was ‘unworkable’.
But she said she ‘absolutely’ thought the UK could help, adding: ‘Because of their membership of the EU, they have not been able to access the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in the way, I am sure, they would have liked to if they had been a sovereign country.’
Arlene Foster has urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to send surplus vaccines to the Republic of Ireland
Several Tory MPs have also called for London to help Dublin, including Andrew Bridgen who said: ‘We should just come to the aid of our Irish cousins – if the EU will let us, that is.’
Government sources confirmed that No 10 is considering offering the Republic vaccines when the UK has a surplus. However, this is not expected to be until May because supplies here are ‘very tight’.
Ireland, with its vaccination rate of three per cent, has fared better than many other EU countries, which are now facing the prospect of severe shortages.
But last week, it was still lagging way behind Northern Ireland’s rate of 10.4 per cent and the UK figure, which is now over 12 per cent.
Ireland has ordered 3.3 million doses of the AstraZeneca jab but faces potential delays to delivery after the pharmaceutical giant warned the EU that initial supplies would be lower than anticipated.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Mrs Foster tore into Brussels for using emergency powers contained in the Brexit withdrawal agreement to stop Northern Ireland being used as a ‘back door’ for scarce Covid vaccines being exported to the UK.
Neale Richmond, European affairs spokesman for Ireland’s Fine Gael party, said the vaccine offer was ‘very generous’ but ‘unlikely to be realised’ because Ireland was part of the European vaccine roll-out.
The Northern Ireland First Minister said Britain could help 'our neighbours in the Republic' to escape the EU vaccine crisis by offering spare AstraZeneca shots to the country. Pictured: Volunteers are trained by St John Ambulance instructors to administer Covid-19 vaccines at Manchester United Football Club on Friday
Northern Ireland's joint heads of government are divided over the Brexit protocol in the aftermath of an EU attempt to slam on the brakes over covid vaccination supply routes.
First Minister Arlene Foster has urged the UK Government to intervene, while deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill has insisted the protocol must stay.
Ireland's premier Micheal Martin said it had been a 'mistake' by the European Commission, but rejected Mrs Foster's claim that the protocol is unworkable.
But all three leaders criticised the EU over its short-lived move to override the protocol over export controls on coronavirus vaccines on Friday evening.
Mrs Foster has pressed Prime Minister Boris Johnson to act, describing the post-Brexit Northern Ireland protocol as 'unworkable' and saying it should be replaced
Mr Martin said it had been a mistake and that dialogue with London and Brussels would continue to 'ensure lessons are learned'.
He also confirmed that the Irish Government did not have prior notice of the European Commission's intentions.
Mrs Foster said it was an 'absolutely incredible act of hostility' while Ms O'Neill said it was 'clearly unwise, ill-judged and totally unnecessary'.
After invoking Article 16 to stop the unimpeded flow of vaccines from the European bloc into Northern Ireland, the EU later backtracked, following condemnation from London, Dublin and Belfast.
So far the UK has placed orders for 367million doses of the seven most promising Covid vaccines — made by AstraZeneca , Pfizer , Moderna, Valneva, Janssen, GlaxoSmithKline and Novavax — at a cost of £2.9billion
In a statement late on Friday, the European Commission said it was 'not triggering the safeguard clause' to ensure the protocol was 'unaffected' after widespread condemnation of its move as part of its export controls on coronavirus vaccines.
Matt Hancock on Saturday to seek reassurance on vaccine supplies.
'It's essential confidence and trust is rebuilt after yesterday's actions by the EU,' he tweeted.
'We need certainty that essential vaccine supplies will always be able to travel freely to NI, both now and in the future.'
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: 'The Health Secretary and minister of health for Northern Ireland had a constructive discussion on the supply of Covid-19 vaccines.'
Mrs Foster has pressed Prime Minister Boris Johnson to act, describing the protocol as 'unworkable' and saying it should be replaced.
'It's absolutely disgraceful, and I have to say the Prime Minister now needs to act very quickly to deal with the real trade flows that are being disrupted between Great Britain and Northern Ireland,' she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday.
'The protocol is unworkable, let's be very clear about that, and we need to see it replaced because otherwise there is going to be real difficulties here in Northern Ireland.'