Vaccine wars: The scramble for a pandemic panacea descends into chaos

The scramble to administer vaccines was meant to signal a turning point in the fight against the coronavirus, but has exposed global political tensions, reports Borzou Daragahi

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen who was forced into a U-turn over a move to establish border controls on vaccines between Northern Ireland and the Republic (EPA)

The rollout of Covid-19 vaccines across the world was meant to alleviate the effects of a devastating pandemic and set the world back on a course towards normalcy.  

But so far, at least, it’s spawned one crisis after another.  

In Europe, officials in Brussels are publicly duking it out with the executives of AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical firm, each blaming the other for the slow rollout of vaccines. The European Union was forced into an embarrassing climbdown after trying to enforce a vaccine border on Northern Ireland from the Republic, using a clause in the recently negotiated Brexit deal with the UK.