Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine supply from Belgium will not be hindered by Brexit, says UK

Plans are in place to ensure smooth transportation of the  Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in the event of no agreement of the United Kingdom with the European Union by the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31, Britain Foreign Affairs Minister said. 

The first doses of coronavirus vaccine have been arriving in the nation from Pfizer’s manufacturing site after UK’s independent regulator gave the official go-ahead for its rollout from this week. However, a bulk supply is expected in the New Year, soon after the Brexit transitional period will end.

The UK’s Road Haulage Association has warned that a failure to agree on an EU-UK post-Brexit trade deal by the end of this month could see “significant disruption” to the flow of goods for many months, reported PTI.

“We have looked at use of non-commercial flights, we’ve got border arrangements in place,” Foreign Office minister James Cleverly told UK media outlets. This could “potentially” involve the armed forces being deployed if required. 

This could “potentially” involve the armed forces being deployed if required, as the minister added:

Cleverly said, “This is such an important product, it’s probably perhaps the most important product, so we will look to ensure that those supplies are available in the UK in whatever circumstance.”

With only a few days left for the transitional period, UK and EU are trying to reach out an agreement that can be ratified by all 27 members of the European Union. 

If both sides fail to reach an agreement, it would mean import duties and delays on the border for most goods.