A bombshell poll showed that more than a quarter of people believe the European Commission President is responsible for the snail-paced rollout of jabs. It came as Chancellor Angela Merkel leapt to the defence of blundering eurocrats, claiming “perfectionism” is to blame her country’s flawed response to the pandemic. But German MEP Nicolaus Fest said it was time for Mrs von der Leyen to resign for her vaccines omnishambles.
He told Express.co.uk: “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Ursula von der Leyen has no option left but to resign.
“Her handling of the vaccine scheme has been an omnishambles from the beginning, but this is what happens when we allow unelected bureaucrats to lead in a crisis.
“This was her moment to shine, to prove the doubters wrong, but instead she has failed spectacularly.”
Fellow countryman Gunnar Beck insisted the polling was a sign that Germans are starting to grow wise to the EU’s blunders.
The MEP said: “It’s no surprise the German people are waking up to the incompetent policies of the EU and the role played by failed politician Ursula von der Leyen during the coronavirus crisis.
“The mood is gradually changing in Germany and I hope this will lead to the EU finally being held to account by voters across Europe.”
Germany’s woeful mass vaccination scheme has left the country in the midst of a third wave of coronavirus infections.
But just 14 percent claimed Mrs Merkel was responsible for the sluggish scheme, compared to the 26 percent pinning the blame on Mrs von der Leyen.
Authorities have so far distributed just 12 million jabs – with just 12 percent of adults receiving at least one dose – and are sitting on a reservoir of more than 3.6 million unused immunisations.
In bad news for Mrs Merkel, 49 percent of people surveyed believe she should step down as Chancellor early as a result of her botched handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
And more than half of respondents believe her health minister Jens Spahn should also be given the boot.
Pollsters Infratest Dimap surveyed 1,298 people to establish who was to blame for the country’s bungled pandemic response.
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France is also severally lagging behind Britain’s vaccine rollout, sparking threats of jabs blockades from President Emmanuel Macron.
Mr Macron claimed France would catch up with our vaccination drive “in a few weeks”.
He said: “In a few weeks we will have completely caught up with the British, who will meanwhile be increasingly dependent on us to vaccinate their population.”
The French President appeared to make reference to AstraZeneca doses made in Europe that Brussels has threatened to block foreign exports.
Eurocrats will stop jabs produced from the Anglo-Swedish pharma giant being sent abroad to countries with better vaccination rates than the EU because it believes the firm is not fulfilling its contract with the bloc.
On Friday, French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian suggested Britain would soon run out of supplies to deliver second doses because we have prioritised rolling out first doses to as many people as possible.
