Von der Leyen regrets ‘mistakes’ over vaccine export gaffe

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, centre left, arrives for a debate on the EU approach to Covid-19 vaccinations at the European Parliament in Brussels (Francisco Seco/AP)

The European Union’s top official has expressed regret for creating a row with the UK last month when the bloc briefly considered applying an emergency restriction on exports of Covid-19 vaccines also to Northern Ireland.

The EU introduced tighter rules on exports of vaccines that could have hit shipments to nations like the UK amid a dispute with Anglo/Swedish pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca.