London withholds numbers on vaccine exports on 'national security'

Agencies | London

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The British Foreign Ministry has delayed response to a request from a German press agency about the country's vaccine exports as it is an issue of “national security.”

In a letter this week, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told dpa the information was available but it needed to check if its release was within the public interest to publish.

An answer would be given in May at the earliest, the letter added.

In a Freedom of Information Request, dpa asked for information on how many doses of vaccines had been exported from Britain by March 10, and where they were going.

The Freedom of Information Request inquiries usually have to be answered within 20 working days.

The EU has accused Britain of blocking vaccine exports and has since introduced an export control mechanism.

London rejected the accusation and said the EU was practising “vaccination nationalism” due to the control system.

According to the European Commission, more than 20 million vaccine doses had been shipped from the bloc to Britain by the end of March alone.

In total, from January until April 13, the commission said it had exported 113.5 million vaccines to 43 countries, dpa reported.

The member states also approved 613 requests for export authorisations and rejected one request.

It is not known how many vaccines have been sent from Britain to Europe. According to the EU, it was next to nothing.

Both sides are currently negotiating a longer-term solution to the vaccine dispute.

During a briefing on Wednesday, a spokesperson for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters London was continuing to have “constructive discussions with EU partners” to benefit Europeans and Britons.

A spokesperson for the European Commission told dpa: “The European Commission has been communicating regularly on its exports of vaccines.

“We have invited our trade partners to do the same. One of the reasons for introducing the transparency and export authorisation mechanism was to have greater transparency of vaccine production and deliveries, as well as of the supply chains.”