Last April, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen added Europe to a global effort to ensure equitable access to a vaccine, which she said would be deployed "to every single corner of the world."
But despite pledging billions of dollars to the program set up by the World Health Organization and publicly endorsing it, European Union officials and member states repeatedly made choices that undermined the campaign, internal documents seen by Reuters and interviews with EU officials and diplomats show.
A year after its launch, Europe and the rest of the world have yet to donate a single dose through the vaccine program, which is part of an unprecedented effort to distribute vaccines, tests and drugs to fight the pandemic. Diplomats say Europe's ambivalence stemmed partly from short supplies and a slack start to the global campaign, but also from concerns that the EU's efforts would go unnoticed in a vaccine diplomacy war where highly publicized promises from China and Russia were winning ground, even in its own backyard.
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