No, Europe has not stopped offering COVID-19 vaccines

CLAIM: The United Kingdom’s national healthcare system has stopped coronavirus vaccinations in Europe.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Not only does the U.K.’s National Health Service not control healthcare policy in other parts of Europe, it also hasn’t stopped administering all COVID-19 shots within its own borders. The island nation has stopped offering primary and secondary doses of the vaccination to any resident who seeks it, but the elderly and those considered high risk are still eligible for the initial doses or booster shots going forward.

THE FACTS: A social media post claims, without evidence, that the U.K.’s National Health Service is ending the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across continental Europe.

“NHS has stopped vaccinations in Europe as of June 30,” the popular Instagram post reads. “Media is silent.”

But the agency is doing nothing of the sort.

For one thing, the NHS only has jurisdiction in the U.K. territories of England, Scotland, Wales and northern Ireland, not the whole of Europe.

And while it’s true that June 30 marked a milestone in the country’s distribution of coronavirus vaccines, public health officials stressed that they’re not ending use of the shots entirely, as the post claims.

Instead, the country on June 30 stopped providing the initial two-dose regimen of the vaccine for most people. The end came as the health officials also concluded their spring vaccine booster campaign that was focused on those 75 or older and other high risk groups.

U.K. Health Minister Maria Caulfield, in a May release urging residents to get vaccinated before the cutoff date, said the country was focusing its resources on those most in need of vaccine protection.

“As we live with COVID-19 without restrictions on our freedoms, it is right that we move towards a more targeted vaccination offer that prioritises those most at risk, so we can focus our efforts on cutting waiting lists for NHS treatment – one of the Prime Minister’s top 5 priorities,” she said in the statement.

Shaun Whelan, a spokesperson for the U.K. Health Security Agency, which oversees the country’s public health and infectious disease response, noted in an email Friday that those at higher risk of becoming seriously ill from the virus will still be able to receive booster shots during subsequent seasonal vaccination drives.

A person who moves into a high risk group, such as those with cancer, diabetes or other chronic ailments, would also be qualified to receive their primary doses during those times, he wrote.

“The vast majority of the population have been vaccinated with their primary doses,” Whelan added.

Jack Gordon-Brown, another U.K. HSA spokesperson, wrote in an email Friday: “Yes it’s correct to say that we are not ending the administration of vaccines forever.”

The U.K.’s vaccine policies have been a target of misinformation before.

Earlier this year, social media users falsely claimed the nation was banning anyone under the age of 50 from getting the shots.

Instead, public health officials said they were focusing on inoculating the elderly and the people most at risk of serious complications from the virus.
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.