UK to shun EU coronavirus vaccine purchase plan

The UK on Friday turned down the chance to join a multibillion-euro EU plan to secure supplies of potential coronavirus vaccines, after concluding its conditions were unfavourable.

Boris Johnson’s government made the decision after talks with the European Commission suggested London would be unable to take part in the plan’s governance or negotiating team, according to a letter published late on Friday.

The UK’s potential entry to the scheme was a test of the possibilities for emergency co-operation with the EU at a time when talks over their wider post-Brexit relationship are tense.

The negotiations came as an international battle escalates among rich countries to buy up coronavirus remedies, often long before their effectiveness has been confirmed.

The UK government decided “on this occasion” not to join the EU plan because London would not have had any say in which vaccines to procure, at what price or in what quantity a