Covid vaccination is becoming increasingly political

If only it were simple. You develop vaccines, make sure they are safe and super-efficient and then distribute them evenly throughout the world, so everyone benefits and the global pandemic dies. Unfortunately that is not the case and each day we hear more rows going on about who is getting what and whether some countries are being shunted to the bottom of the pile. The row between the EU and the UK is a classic example. The EU took a long time to get its act together and didn't put in orders for the whole bloc until everyone had agreed what they wanted. By the time they made up their bureaucratic minds, the UK government had beaten them to it by three months, ordering millions of doses of Pfizer and Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines and got on with a jabbing programme as soon as the vaccines arrived. But the EU has cried foul because AstraZeneca is now faced with production problems and has told the EU it will only get 60 per cent of what they ordered in a first phase, meaning several months of delay. The EU hierarchy has gone ballistic, crying unfair unfair, and they want the UK to give up some of their share. BorisJohnson says no way. Now Germany has tried to downgrade the Oxford vaccine by saying it's not good enough for over 65s, claiming the trials didn't include sufficient numbers of over 65s to give any confidence it will work for this age group. Boris says it's rubbish. It's all nasty political stuff. The worst thing is that it will make people aged over 65 concerned about the Oxford vaccine. I can forseee people turning up for their jab and refusing to have the Oxford model and insist on the Pfizer one. Then what will happen? Oxford AstraZeneca need to publish more data to reassure everyone, especially the Germans. Meanwhile, the EU and UK and AsraZeneca are at loggerheads with no sign of anyone being happy. What a disaster at a time when we are all living in hope, thanks to the vaccines, that life could get back to normal.