No, UK's health agency hasn't stopped COVID-19 vaccines in Europe | Fact check

Chris Mueller, USA TODAY
·3 min read
2

The claim: NHS halted all COVID-19 vaccinations in Europe as of June 30, 2023

A July 3 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a screenshot of a tweet that asserts the COVID-19 vaccine is no longer available in Europe.

"NHS has stopped COVID vaccinations in Europe as of June 30," reads the tweet. "Media is silent."

The Instagram post was liked more than 300 times in a week. The original tweet was retweeted more than 3,000 times.

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Our rating: False

The National Health Service, the U.K.'s national health agency, has no control over policies outside of the U.K. The country has stopped offering the first two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to people at lower risk of developing a severe illness, but the vaccination remains available to people at higher risk.

UK still giving COVID-19 vaccines to high-risk people

The NHS has no control over policies outside England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It couldn't make any policy that would apply to all of Europe, as the post claims.

The post appears to be referencing the U.K. government's plan to stop offering the first and second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for people at low risk of developing a severe case of the illness on June 30. The plan has been public for months.

"As we live with COVID-19 without restrictions on our freedoms, it is right that we move towards a more targeted vaccination offer that prioritizes those most at risk, so we can focus our efforts on cutting waiting lists for NHS treatment," Maria Caulfield, a U.K. health minister, said in a May news release urging people to get vaccinated before the deadline.

However, the COVID-19 vaccine will still be available "for those most at risk," which officials hope will be a more efficient use of resources and help "cut the backlogs and reduce waiting times," the news release says.

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The U.K.'s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises the country's health departments on vaccines, has said "emergency surge vaccine responses" could be needed if a concerning new variant of the disease emerges in the future, potentially affecting vaccine eligibility.

The NHS website, as of July 10, describes the COVID-19 vaccine as "safe and effective," while the World Health Organization notes that more than 151 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the U.K.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response. The author of the original tweet could not be reached.

The Associated Press also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim UK's NHS stopped COVID-19 vaccines in Europe | Fact check