This seems exactly backwards. The EU's involvement in vaccine and PPE procurement was at least partially a propaganda exercise to try and undo the damage done w

This seems exactly backwards. The EU's involvement in vaccine and PPE procurement was at least partially a propaganda exercise to try and undo the damage done when member states with more manufacturing capacity cut off the supply to other states with a more desperate immediate need like Italy and the EU was impotent to stop it. Which was a potential existential threat - the whole purpose of the EU was to encourage trade and interdependence between European states and ban them from using protectionism to ensure the existence of local manufacturers, and now, when a crisis had hit, this was literally killing people Changing the vaccination schedule in the UK, on the other hand, was an informed gamble that - based on what was known about the vaccine at the time - would likely result in much fewer people dying and being hospitalized than sticking to the original, basically arbitrary, vaccination schedule. Also, blaming AstraZeneca for the EU falling behind the UK in vaccination is 100% pure propaganda. As far as I can tell, at this point their vaccine deliveries to the UK are about as far behind schedule as the ones to the EU, and the UK is a lot more reliant on AZ vaccinations than the EU. The EU just didn't order enough - their initial AZ order was about the same size as the UK one, for a much larger population, meaning they ended up with less production capacity relative to their population than the UK. The reason it seems like the UK vaccination scheme is going to plan is because the UK contract had contractual clauses with teeth requiring AZ to promptly notify them of how much they were actually going to deliver once they had their plants up and running, and the UK's plan was based on the actual delivery schedule. The EU... didn't. At all. I don't think they understand this even now, judging from all the conspiracy theories about how the yield problems are an excuse and AZ are really just sneaking off doses to the UK.