EMMANUEL Macron and Brussels bosses “probably killed hundreds of thousands of people” by knocking the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, a scientist claims.
Professor Sir John Bell — instrumental in helping to create that vaccine — had hoped that it would be rolled out all over the world.
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But hasty remarks from the French president and EU chiefs, repeatedly talking it down, allegedly led to huge vaccine apathy.
And a furious Sir John, 69, insists that gave rise to anti-vaxxers, which then led to Covid ripping again through Europe in another wave.
He said: “I think bad behaviour from scientists and politicians has probably killed hundreds of thousands of people — and that they cannot be proud of.
“They have damaged the reputation of the vaccine in a way that echoes around the world.”
The Oxford University professor, a former adviser to the Government, said the critical comments had eroded trust in the vaccine globally, and stopped the non-for-profit jab getting to those who needed it.
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Mr Macron and former German leader Angela Merkel had trashed the jab as “quasi-ineffective” for older people and stated: “It doesn’t work as expected.”
Other leaders accused the UK of rushing through its approval in a post-Brexit spat.
But just hours later, the European Medicines Agency approved the jab for adults of all ages, and Germany and France later reversed decisions to dish it out to older people. It was sent to 170 countries at no profit, helping to save countless lives.
Approximately three in four of the vaccines were dished out to low or middle income countries.
But huge batches of the vaccine in France had to be thrown away as people were not using it in time.
It was falsely speculated that the vaccine could cause blood clots or that developers had cut corners.
Countries — including Ireland, Italy, Austria and Denmark — paused their rollouts.
Nearly half of adults in the UK have had two doses of the home-grown AZ jab, but it still has not been approved in the United States.
