(Adds source-based comments)
LONDON, April 8 (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of doses
of AstraZeneca vaccine have been flown to Australia from
Britain but the source of the shipments was kept quiet to avoid
any controversy in the United Kingdom, the Sydney Morning Herald
said.
The first 300,000 British-made doses landed at Sydney
airport on February 28 – a month after the European Commission
adopted curbs on the export of vaccines produced in the EU, the
newspaper said.
Another large batch arrived on an Emirates passenger plane
in March, well after Italy and the European Commission formally
blocked an application by AstraZeneca to ship 250,000 doses to
Australia, it added.
The paper cited an unidentified British official as saying
the shipments to Australia were never at the expense of
Britain's vaccine rollout, one of the world's swiftest.
A spokesman for Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison
declined to comment. A second source said Australia was
reluctant to confirm or deny the report.
"For reasons of supply chain integrity and national
security, we do not advise the origins of particular vaccine
shipments," said the source, who sought anonymity in the absence
of authority to speak on the matter.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in London and Canberra; Editing
by Jacqueline Wong, Sarah Young and John Stonestreet)
Glaxosmithkline (GSK)
Astrazeneca (AZN)