BERLIN, March 25 (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday defended her government’s decision to procure coronavirus vaccines jointly with other European Union member states, saying a failure to do so would shake the bloc to its core.
“Despite all the complaints, it was right to rely on the joint procurement and approval of vaccines by the European Union,” she told German lawmakers ahead of an EU summit.
“Now that we see even small differences in the distribution of vaccines cause big discussions, I would not like to imagine if some member states had vaccines and others did not. That would shake the internal market to its core,” she said.
Reporting by Paul Carrel
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