Pump! Boris Johnson considered invading the Netherlands to steal Covid-19 vaccines

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson assessed the possibility of a military operation to seize five million doses of vaccines against Covid-19 stored in the city of Leiden, Netherlands. This episode is described in an excerpt from his memoirs entitled “Unleashed”, published by Daily Mail.

In the context of a fierce vaccine dispute in spring 2021 between the European Union and the United Kingdom, the Halix factory in Leiden has become the center of attention. The facility was producing AstraZeneca vaccines, contracted by both the UK and the EU.

During this period, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen threatened to restrict vaccine exports to countries with vaccination rates higher than the EU or that refused to share their own vaccine stocks with the bloc. The United Kingdom was directly affected by these criteria.

As reported by the Politico portal, after two months of fruitless negotiations with the EU, Johnson asked the British armed forces to draw up a plan for the forced withdrawal of doses. Senior army officers even proposed sending soldiers to secretly cross the English Channel and carry out the seizure.

However, Johnson eventually discarded the idea, considering that invading a NATO ally country would be “madness”. The plan, which was never implemented, reflects the intensity and desperation caused by the global competition for vaccines at a critical moment in the pandemic.