The UK has decided not to join a €2.4 billion European Union plan to secure advance purchases of promising Covid-19 vaccines, saying the EU would not allow it any role in decision-making. "The UK government has decided on this occasion not to join this internal EU initiative, but given our shared interest in ensuring that vaccines are available to all, we are committed to strengthening our collaboration with the EU outside the framework," the UK's ambassador to the EU, Tim Barrow, said.
Before making its decision, it had assessed whether the advantages of the European bloc's bargaining power to strike deals with international drug companies would outweigh the fact that Britain would have little control over strategy.