> I’m sort of shocked that the EU is allowing export outside the EU during the initial rollout.
So, if everyone had brought in export bans, then it's likely that wouldn't have been the end of it; trade restrictions on precursors and equipment and those little glass bottles (these were seriously a problem for vaccine manufacture at one point) would have followed, and world production would have ground to a halt. No country/bloc except possibly China can make a vaccine in large quantities single-handed.
The EU's mistake was in being the only big producer not to ban or heavily restrict export; being the last one to do it would be very dangerous and more likely to cause escalation. That's still a concern for current proposed EU export restrictions.
So, if everyone had brought in export bans, then it's likely that wouldn't have been the end of it; trade restrictions on precursors and equipment and those little glass bottles (these were seriously a problem for vaccine manufacture at one point) would have followed, and world production would have ground to a halt. No country/bloc except possibly China can make a vaccine in large quantities single-handed.
The EU's mistake was in being the only big producer not to ban or heavily restrict export; being the last one to do it would be very dangerous and more likely to cause escalation. That's still a concern for current proposed EU export restrictions.