Tony Blair: UK’s fast vaccine rollout is no Brexit dividend

LONDON — The U.K.’s quick rollout of coronavirus vaccines is not a direct consequence of Brexit, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said.

The U.K. has administered nearly 20 million doses and aims to have vaccinated all adults by the end of July. Although the vaccination pace has slowed down in the past few days, the government has been the subject of praise and envy for its fast rollout this year, as EU countries have struggled to have access to enough jabs.

Speaking at an online event Friday, Tony Blair rejected the idea that Britain’s vaccination success is a Brexit dividend, as has been claimed by some supporters of the U.K.’s departure from the EU.

“We could have done this inside Europe,” he said. “We didn’t need to leave Europe in order to have control of our own destiny and our vaccines.”

The former British leader said every U.K. government “would have wanted to take charge of our own situation” — particularly because of the U.K.’s role in the development and manufacturing of the AstraZeneca vaccine, one of the first in reaching the market.

Blair, who was presenting a report produced by his think tank on how countries could prepare for the next pandemic, said that a key reason why the EU trailed behind Britain was the team tasked with vaccine procurement.

The European Commission “should learn an easy lesson” from how the U.K. and U.S. approached this issue, he said, adding: “Put the purchase of vaccines in the hands of a small number of people, a dedicated team, who aren’t functionaries, but who are people who are experts in doing precisely what you need done.”

Revealing he has been inoculated with a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Blair said the rejection of this jab for older people by some European governments was a “mistake.” The European Medicines Agency has licensed the vaccine for adults, including those over 65.

He also supported the concept of vaccine passports to get the economy moving again, and warned that if African countries fall behind in vaccinations and do not have “proper means” of recording tests and jabs there will be parts of the world “effectively cut off so their liberties are going to be severely restricted.”