MATT Hancock is being urged to join the EU initiative to fast-track a Covid-19 vaccine.
The European Union project will see the bloc work with six coronavirus vaccine manufacturers, letting member states pool resources and collaborate to buy supplies should a successful treatment emerge.
The bloc is set to use a “large majority” of a 2.7-billion-euro emergency fund for the scheme, and says it will also commit to giving fair worldwide access to pandemic remedies.
The UK is entitled to join the scheme, but one EU spokesperson indicated it has not chosen to do so.
READ MORE: Top official now says EU ventilator decision was NOT political
The Tory Government can opt in until the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31, 2020.
It comes after a row earlier this year over the UK’s lack of involvement in an EU ventilator procurement scheme.
The UK Government had claimed it did not join the initiative due to communication issues, but EU officials denied this was the case. Speaking at the Foreign Affairs Committee, top civil servant Sir Simon McDonald told MPs that it was a “political decision” not to take part.
Hancock denied that, and McDonald later wrote to the committee to say he had “inadvertently and wrongly” made the claim.
It emerged last week that McDonald will be stepping down early due to the plan to merge the Department for International Development with the Foreign Office.
LibDem leadership hopeful Layla Moran has now written to Hancock calling on the Government to join the EU’s vaccine scheme and extend the Brexit transition period to ensure the UK could benefit if a treatment is found next year.
READ MORE: Matt Hancock denies failure to join EU scheme was political move
She told the Health Secretary: “The government must put lives before ideology and join EU efforts to secure access to a coronavirus vaccine.
“Working together with our neighbours will increase the chances of developing an effective vaccine and deploying it around Europe and the world as soon as possible.
“Opportunities have already been missed to take part in vital EU schemes that could have helped the NHS combat this pandemic by securing life-saving equipment. We must ensure those mistakes aren’t made again.”
She went on: “This should go hand in hand with an extension to the transition period, to ensure the UK can continue to benefit from this EU-wide scheme if a vaccine is developed next year.”
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