UK police at vaccine production site dealing with ‘incident’

LONDON — British police are dealing with an “incident” on an industrial complex in Wales where doses of the 0xford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine are produced and stored.

North Wales Police said the incident was ongoing Wednesday at the Wrexham Industrial Estate, about 42 miles (68 kilometres) south of Liverpool.

“The roads are currently closed and we would ask the public to avoid the area until further notice,” the force said in a statement. It did not provide details.

The BBC reported that a bomb disposal unit has been called to deal with a suspicious package and said there were no reports of injuries.

Wockhardt UK, an arm of the Mumbai-based pharmaceutical company that is producing the vaccines at the Wrexham manufacturing site, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The company struck an agreement with the British government, which reserved a production line at the plant to guarantee the supply of the COVID-19 vaccines. The company recently hosted Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who hailed the agreement as a milestone in Britain’s vaccine distribution program.

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The Associated Press