It should have been Europe’s finest hour. Battered by multiple waves of Covid-19, lockdowns and recession, the European Union had found a noble way to prove its raison d’être: by making the vaccine equally available to its 27 member states, rich or poor, small or powerful, through an unprecedented joint procurement initiative led by Brussels. The vaccine would be doubly effective. It would protect the health of 450 million residents, allowing normal economic activity to resume, and it would strengthen the unity of the bloc. After the adoption of a common recovery plan last year, hailed as a remarkable success for European integration, what better way to demonstrate that we are stronger together than by ensuring vaccination for all? If only. Instead the process has descended into chaos . Slow to secure contracts for vaccines, the bloc began its rollout notably later than Britain and the United […]