The EU, UK and US: Who is really guilty of vaccine nationalism?

Accusations of countries cynically putting their own national interest above those of others in the pandemic are flying around thick and fast. But where does the truth lie? Ben Chu investigates

“Each of these entities, whether the EU, the UK or US are just doing it [vaccine nationalism] in different forms” says Chad Bown, a trade expert at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (Getty)

The accusation of “vaccine nationalism” is being thrown around as supplies of coronavirus inoculations around the world run into production bottlenecks. The charge has been levelled in the UK at the European Union in relation to its new rules, unveiled on Wednesday, to curb exports of the jabs from the bloc under certain circumstances. But within the EU the same claim is being made about the behaviour of the UK and the United States.

EU politicians and officials complain that the bloc has exported 43 million vaccine doses to 33 countries yet is suffering shortages at home and has received no deliveries from big production centres like Britain or America.

So what to make of this finger-pointing and recrimination? Why has there been such a potentially dangerous breakdown on this subject? And which countries really are behaving in a nationalistic way when it comes to vaccines? Are some being unfairly maligned?