Alliance MP Stephen Farry has said the EU’s decision to use Article 16 in a bid to control vaccine distribution is not justified or warranted.

He added: “We are in the middle of a global pandemic, there are no sides in the fight against Covid. Yet this completely unjustified and unwarranted move will only serve to heighten an already tense situation.

“We don’t need a vaccine war, and other alternatives exist for the EU to manage its vaccine supply.

“The situation in Northern Ireland is already fragile, and we should not be placed at the centre of this dispute.

“Implementation of the Protocol has already been challenging. But due to the bad choices of others, it is all that we have to address the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland and to protect the Good Friday Agreement. It must not be allowed to unravel.

“The European Commission must urgently reconsider and reverse the approach that they have adopted.”