BORIS Johnson slapped down the Germans today after they went to war with British-based AstraZeneca over the Covid vaccine – and the EU raided its factory.
German regulators claimed the jab should not be used on over-65s because there is not enough proof it works on them.
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Boris came out fighting against the German attack on the British-based company.
Speaking on a trip to Scotland, he said: “This is a vaccine that our own MHRA (regulators) has said produces an immune response in all age groups and is a good vaccine.
“So I'm very confident in it."
The extraordinary ruling came as the EU ordered a raid on AstraZeneca’s Belgian plant in a desperate bid to prove it is lying about vaccine production problems.
Brussels will tomorrow unveil its audacious plan which could block the export of millions of Pfizer vaccines to Britain.
AstraZeneca vowed to publish its contract with the bloc to prove it is not obliged to hand over Britain’s vaccine doses to Europe.
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The bitter war between the pharma giant and the EU over the bloc’s bodged vaccine rollout came as the PM refused to rule out sending some of the UK’s doses to Europe after Brits in the top nine most vulnerable groups are vaccinated.
Brussels has become embroiled in a remarkable spat with AstraZeneca over the bloc's slovenly vaccine rollout.
It has slammed the company for delays to its orders, and even demanded that jabs are diverted from Britain to Europe.
Michael Gove said Britain is happy to “talk” to the EU “to learn what we can do to help one another”.
But he insisted the UK will not lose out on any of its supplies of the life-saving jab “which were fixed some time ago”.
Whitehall insiders tonight told The Sun that reports Britain is planning to give some of its doses to Europe are “b**locks”.
And Boris played down rumours of immediate action.
He said: "As soon as the British population is properly protected, we will of course be doing everything we can to help our friends around the world.”
Tensions are set to escalate tomorrow when Brussels publicly reveal their plan for a Covid vaccine export ban.
An EU official said: "There is a possibility in certain circumstances not to allow the export to move forward.
"We want to ensure we have a say about where these vaccines are ending up in a situation where we are now in a shortfall of supply."
Meanwhile, a top German MEP said investors could pull out of AstraZeneca unless the company caves to the EU and sends British vaccine doses to the continent.
Peter Liese, who belongs to Angela Merkel's CDU party, said: "If the only solution is to have a reduction of the delivery to the UK, and that would bring more vaccine to the EU, that is only fair.
"The reputation of the Pharma industry is already bad. If they behave like this it will be even worse."
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