The UK's vaccine agreement states that all production of vaccines produced on British soil should primarily go to the British.

Sweden's vaccine coordinator Richard Bergström says that a similar discussion took place early among the EU countries, but that such demands were dismissed fairly quickly.

- There was no support within the Commission for having a system where the vaccine produced in Europe is kept within the EU.

It was a very short discussion.

We asked the question and the answer came within a week: No we should not have that attitude.

Are you sorry?

- No, I do not do that at all, says Richard Bergström.

Many rely on the EU

Among other things, the EU has exported nine million doses of Pfizer's vaccine to the UK, while the British have stopped exporting vaccines to the EU.

But EU exports have also led to many developing countries being able to access vaccines, says Bergström.

- There are many countries around the world that rely on the EU and have historically relied on the EU being a reliable partner.

Making demands now to keep vaccines produced in Europe within the EU would have been "completely wrong", says Bergström.

- Now it is a matter of resorting to diplomatic instruments instead.

Why should we export to the UK when they are not exporting to us?

- It is wrong that the UK does not allow exports and I think it is wrong that the US is on 30 million doses of Astra Zeneca vaccine.

In addition, in the United States it is not even approved.

- But that we, tit-for-tat, would close our borders is completely wrong.

Rather, one must put moral pressure on them and say at the highest diplomatic level that this is not how we should have it.

Dangerous with restrictions

You talk about the global picture, but you are appointed by the Swedish government, should you not primarily review Sweden's need for vaccines?

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Yes, but if everyone just looks over their own house in the short term, it collapses quite quickly, we are all dependent on each other, says Richard Bergström and continues:

- It would have been very nice to say: 'ok, we now keep those Pfizer vaccines ourselves'.

It may work for a few months before you discover that it is something else we do not have access to and some factory is forced to stop working because a pump or filter is stuck in another country.

It is very dangerous to start with this type of restriction.