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FILE - In this Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020 file photo, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson watches as nurse Rebecca Cathersides administers the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to Lyn Wheeler at Guy's Hospital in London. Britain is racing to vaccinate more than 15 million people by mid-February, and in an effort to ensure vaccines get to the right places at the right times, along with the syringes, alcohol swabs and protective equipment needed to administer them, the government has called in the army. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein, Pool, File)

Timeline of virus vaccine deals reveals EU’s lag behind UK

By The Associated Press - Associated Press

Laboratory technicians work at Valneva headquarters in Saint-Herblain, western France, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. French pharmaceutical startup Valneva had big news in September: a government contract for 60 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine candidate. The buyer? The United Kingdom — not the European Union, as might be expected for a company on the banks of the Loire. (AP Photo/David Vincent)

UK vaccine gambles paid off, while EU caution slowed it down

By RAF CASERT and MASHA MACPHERSON - Associated Press

$The League's Matteo Salvini addresses the media after meeting with Mario Draghi, at the Chamber of Deputies in Rome, Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. Former European Central Bank chief Draghi is consulting Italy’s fractious parties after being tapped by President Sergio Mattarella to try to pull together a government to guide the debt-riddled country through the health and economic crises it is confronting. (Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via AP)$

Italy’s Draghi wins support of 2 rival parties for new govt

By COLLEEN BARRY - Associated Press

EU’s top diplomat hopes Sputnik V will be approved in bloc

Associated Press

Leader of the Democratic Party, Nicola Zingaretti, addresses the media after meeting Mario Draghi, at the Chamber of Deputies in Rome, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. Former European bank chief Mario Draghi agreed Wednesday to try to form a non-political government to steer Italy through the coronavirus pandemic after last-ditch negotiations among political parties failed to produce a viable governing coalition. (Riccardo Antimiani/Pool via AP)

Draghi wins support of ex-Italian PM who triggered crisis

By COLLEEN BARRY - Associated Press

FILE - In this file photo dated Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, healthcare workers move a COVID-19 patient to the Motol hospital in Prague, Czech Republic. The hospital in Prague has admitted five patients in serious condition from other hospitals that were overrun due to the coronavirus pandemic. Reaching a milestone of one million confirmed cases, the battle against the pandemic is far from over in the Czech Republic. Amid warnings by experts against new contagious virus variants, one of the hardest hit European countries has been trying to avoid the mistakes of the past when soaring infections almost caused the collapse of the struggling health system. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, FILE)

Hard-hit Czech Republic reaches 1 million confirmed cases

By KAREL JANICEK - Associated Press

FILE-- Italy's President Sergio Mattarella, left, welcomes reigning European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on the eve of the change at the head of the ECB in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, Oct. 28, 2019. Italian President Sergio Mattarella has summoned Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021, former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi at the Quirinale Presidential Palace on Wednesday for talks, after two rounds of talks failed to seal an agreement among parties on a new premiership for the outgoing Giuseppe Conte. (Boris Roessler/Pool Photo via AP)

Italy looks to ‘Super Mario’ Draghi to end political crisis

By NICOLE WINFIELD and COLLEEN BARRY - Associated Press

Vehicles disembark from the P&amp;O ferry arriving from Scotland at the port of Larne, Northern Ireland, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. Authorities in Northern Ireland have suspended checks on animal products and withdrawn workers from two ports after threats against border staff. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

UK-EU talks aim to defuse Brexit tensions over N Ireland

By JILL LAWLESS - Associated Press

European Council President Charles Michel, left, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen leave after a joint news conference at the end of a EU summit video conference at the European Council headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. European Union leaders assessed more measures to counter the spread of coronavirus variants during a video summit Thursday as the bloc's top disease control official said urgent action was needed to stave off a new wave of hospitalizations and deaths. (Olivier Hoslet, Pool Photo via AP)

EU wants to step up fight against cancer amid virus pandemic

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN - Associated Press

A man walks past graffiti reading &quot;No Irish sea border&quot; in the mainly loyalist Donegal road area of South Belfast, Northern Ireland, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021. Graffiti has appeared across Loyalist areas in Northern Ireland in recent days as anger grows relating to the Northern Ireland protocol and the row over vaccines across the border into Northern Ireland. The European Union has introduced tighter rules on exports of coronavirus vaccines that could hit shipments to nations like the United Kingdom amid a deepening dispute with drugmaker AstraZeneca over supplies of potentially lifesaving shots. The measure created an outcry Friday in Northern Ireland amid fears it would trigger controls on vaccines shipments produced in the 27-nation bloc. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

Border checks stopped at N Ireland ports after threats

By JILL LAWLESS - Associated Press

Japan's Administrative Reform Minister Taro Kono sits before a cabinet meeting at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. Kono, who is in charge of COVID-19 vaccines, raised concern Tuesday about the delayed distribution of European-made vaccines, saying Japan’s preparations have been affected by a lack of EU clarity.(Shinji Kita/Kyodo News via AP)

Japan concerned over EU COVID-19 vaccine supply uncertainty

By MARI YAMAGUCHI - Associated Press

Staff at Midland Fish in Fleetwood take a break from preparing fish for sale, at the docks in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. The introduction of new checks and paperwork since the end of the Brexit transition period on Dec. 31 has caused huge disruption to exports of fresh fish and seafood to the EU, with producers becoming increasing frustrated at the lack of Government action. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

A month on, post-Brexit ‘teething problems’ hit UK-EU trade

By JILL LAWLESS - Associated Press

People wearing protective masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk along a pedestrian crossing Monday, Feb. 1, 2021, in Tokyo. The Japanese capital confirmed more than 390 new coronavirus cases on Monday. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

The Latest: Wash. state warns hospitals on VIP vaccinations

By The Associated Press - Associated Press

A nurse holds a bottle of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Nurse Isabel Zendal Hospital in Madrid, Spain, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

EU seeks to boost credibility despite slow vaccine rollout

By RAF CASERT and FRANK JORDANS - Associated Press

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a joint news conference with European Council President Charles Michel at the end of a EU summit video conference at the European Council headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. European Union leaders assessed more measures to counter the spread of coronavirus variants during a video summit Thursday as the bloc's top disease control official said urgent action was needed to stave off a new wave of hospitalizations and deaths. (Olivier Hoslet, Pool Photo via AP)

EU: AstraZeneca to supply 9 million more vaccine doses

By FRANK JORDANS - Associated Press

A man walks past graffiti reading &quot;No Irish sea border&quot; in the mainly loyalist Donegal road area of South Belfast, Northern Ireland, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021. Graffiti has appeared across Loyalist areas in Northern Ireland in recent days as anger grows relating to the Northern Ireland protocol and the row over vaccines across the border into Northern Ireland. The European Union has introduced tighter rules on exports of coronavirus vaccines that could hit shipments to nations like the United Kingdom amid a deepening dispute with drugmaker AstraZeneca over supplies of potentially lifesaving shots. The measure created an outcry Friday in Northern Ireland amid fears it would trigger controls on vaccines shipments produced in the 27-nation bloc. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

UK sees smooth vaccine supplies after EU addresses ‘mistake’

By PAN PYLAS and FRANK JORDANS - Associated Press

Hungary first in EU to approve Chinese COVID-19 vaccine

Associated Press

The AstraZeneca office building in Brussels, Friday, Jan. 29, 2021. Amid a dispute over expected shortfalls, the European Union is looking at legal ways to guarantee the delivery of all the COVID-19 vaccine doses it bought from AstraZeneca and other drugmakers as regulators are set to consider approving the Anglo-Swedish company's vaccine for use in the 27-nation EU. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

EU tightens vaccine export rules, creates post-Brexit outcry

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN and RAF CASERT and LORNE COOK - Associated Press

In this Dec. 1, 2020, file photo the exterior of the European Medicines Agency is seen in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The European Medicines Agency is expected on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021 to authorize use of the vaccine AstraZeneca developed with Oxford University. It would be the third cleared for use in the EU, after the BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

EU regulator authorizes AstraZeneca vaccine for all adults

By Frank Jordans and Maria Cheng - Associated Press

A security guard talks to people at the entrance of Novasep factory in Seneffe, Belgium, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. Belgian health authorities said Thursday they have inspected a pharmaceutical factory located in Belgium to find out whether the expected delays in the deliveries of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccines are due to production issues. The Novasep factory in the town of Seneffe is part of the European production chain for AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine. (AP Photo/Mark Carlson)

In virus-struck Europe, jabs trigger intense political fight

By RAF CASERT - Associated Press