How the EU tortoise caught the UK hare in the Covid vaccination race

Let’s see where we are in September,” said the EU in April, as Boris Johnson basked in the UK’s triumphant vaccination programme that left the rest of Europe trailing so badly.

Well, September is but a few weeks away, so it’s time to test that prediction – and discover a story with strong reminders of the tortoise chasing the hare.

Back in the spring, the story was undoubtedly one of British success, with 30 million jabs delivered compared with only 100 million across the whole of the EU’s 27 nations.

The prime minister was quick to – wrongly – claim this stolen march as a dividend of Brexit and cross-Channel relations deteriorated so badly that “vaccine wars” was the buzz phrase.

Under pressure, the EU ambassador to the UK condemned turning the battle against Covid-19 into a “beauty contest”, saying: “Let’s see where we are at the end of this race...”.

So, what do the latest figures show? First, there is no doubting the dramatic slowdown in the UK, with fewer than 250,000 jabs delivered a day, and only around 40,000 first vaccines.

This is just 0.3 per 100 people – way below the current rate in France (0.7), Italy (0.55) and Belgium (0.55), for example, according to the figures watched like a hawk by the Our World in Data website.

As a result, five EU nations – Denmark, Portugal, Spain, Belgium and Ireland – have already overtaken the UK’s 70 per cent of the population now double-jabbed.

France (68 per cent), Italy (67 per cent) and Germany (63 per cent) are hard on our heels – and definitely much closer than they finished in the Olympic medal table in Tokyo.

And, crucially, they are also expected to lap the Brits in the weeks to come, with their tougher requirements for “vaccine passports” to enter venues, including bars and restaurants in France.

In contrast, although Mr Johnson made a similar threat for night clubs and even sporting fixtures, it seems highly likely to be killed off by a Tory backbench revolt.

The prime minister – when he is not raging at Rishi Sunak’s popularity, while the public turns against him – is also seething at the UK’s failure to exploit its early advantage, it was reported.

True or not, he will have to drop his ridiculous pre-recess jab claims when the Commons returns next month, or be laughed out of the chamber.

In July, he told Labour: “We have rolled out vaccines faster than any other country in Europe,” insisting going it alone had prevented having no “vaccine rollout at all”.

Time for a new script, Mr Johnson.