Police in the south-east of England have charged a 53-year-old man with sending a suspicious package to a coronavirus vaccine production site in north Wales earlier this week.
A spokesman for Kent Police said Saturday that Anthony Collins is accused of sending an article by post “with intent to promote the belief that it is likely to explode or ignite.”
Collins is expected to appear in court about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southeast of London.
The arrest was made on Thursday, a day after all staff were evacuated from a site in Wrexham as the package was inspected. The UK branch of the Mumbai-based pharmaceutical company Wockhardt manufactures the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at the site.
The British Ministry of Defense sent an order disposal team to assist authorities at the plant. The machine was considered incapable.
Wockhardt UK had reached an agreement with the British government, which maintained a product line at the Welsh center to ensure the supply of vaccines.
Last week, emergency teams were deployed to protect the vaccine supply following floods in Wrexham’s industrial area. Wockhardt said at the time that all warnings had been taken to prevent disputes in manufacturing.
———
Follow all AP pandemic covers
https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic,
https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and
https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak