The EU is introducing controls on vaccines made in the bloc, including to Northern Ireland, amid a row about delivery shortfalls.
Under the Brexit deal, all products should be exported from the EU to Northern Ireland without checks.
But the EU believed this could be used to circumvent export controls, with NI becoming a backdoor to the wider UK.
NI First Minister Arlene Foster described the move as "an incredible act of hostility" by the EU.
The EU invoked Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol which allows parts of the deal to be unilaterally overridden.
In a new regulation the European Commission states: "This is justified as a safeguard measure pursuant to Article 16 of that Protocol in order to avert serious societal difficulties due to a lack of supply threatening to disturb the orderly implementation of the vaccination campaigns in the Member States."
The Northern Ireland Protocol is a special deal to prevent the re-emergence of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, agreed in the original withdrawal agreement, is essentially a safeguard that would allow the UK or EU to act unilaterally if measures imposed as a result of the protocol are deemed to be causing "serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties".
This is a politically explosive move by the European Commission.
Northern Ireland's unionist politicians have been agitating for the Article 16 emergency brake to be used to reduce checks and controls on goods crossing the new Irish Sea border.
Some of them see it as a pathway to unravelling the whole Northern Ireland Brexit deal.
The UK government told unionists they would be prepared to use Article 16 but made obvious they were nowhere near the threshold for doing so.
But now the Commission has undermined the government's 'Keep calm and carry on' approach.
Those parties who support the Northern Ireland deal have reacted with dismay.
'Aggressive and shameful'
Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove has spoken to European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic to express the UK's "concern over a lack of notification from the EU about its actions in relation to the NI protocol", said a Downing Street spokesman.
Mr Gove said the UK would be "carefully considering next steps".
An Irish government spokesman said Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheal Martin was currently in discussions with European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen to express Dublin's concerns.
The move should not directly disadvantage NI as it gets its vaccine supplies through the UK procurement system.
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said Northern Ireland's vaccine procurement was carried out through the UK-wide process.
"The Govt has contracts with AstraZeneca & others to ensure vaccines are delivered on schedule & guarantee reliable vaccine provision across the whole of the UK," he tweeted.
Louise Haigh MP, Labour's Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, said the move was "deeply destabilising and undermines the huge efforts being made to make the Protocol work".
DUP leader Arlene Foster said the EU had placed a "hard border" between Northern Ireland the Republic of Ireland.
"By triggering Article 16 in this manner, the European Union has once again shown it is prepared to use Northern Ireland when it suits their interests but in the most despicable manner - over the provision of a vaccine which is designed to save lives," she said.
"At the first opportunity the EU has placed a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland over the supply chain of the Coronavirus vaccine.
"With the European Union using Article 16 in such an aggressive and most shameful way, it is now time for our Government to step up.
"I will be urging the prime minister to act and use robust measures including Article 16 to advance the interests of Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom."
Ulster Unionist Party leader Steve Aiken said the UK government should now invoke Article 16 in response to the EU's actions.
Alliance Party leader Naomi Long said what was needed was "maximum co-operation" not "this obstructive behaviour" from the EU.
Meanwhile, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the European Commission's decision to invoke Article 16 was "disproportionate".
Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol is a safeguard mechanism. Similar measures are often found in a variety of trade agreements.
It allows either the UK or the EU to take unilateral action if the application of the protocol leads to serious 'economic, societal or environmental difficulties' which are liable to persist.
It doesn't define what 'serious' means, but Article 16 is only meant to be used in an emergency. So, the fact that the EU has chosen to invoke it shows just how seriously it is taking its vaccine shortages.
But how will the UK respond? If Northern Ireland could become a backdoor for vaccines to be taken from the EU into the UK, couldn't the same point be argued the other way round?
The First Minister of Northern Ireland Arlene Foster clearly expects something to be done.
"I will be urging the Prime Minister to act," she says, "and use robust measures including Article 16 to advance the interests of Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom."
The intriguing thing is that Article 16 doesn't, of course, apply only to vaccines.
There have been plenty of people calling on the government to invoke Article 16 to help alleviate the trade problems that have arisen between Great Britain and Northern Ireland since the beginning of the year.
That's because Great Britain is now outside the EU single market, but Northern Ireland is still following many single market rules.
This latest development means the plot thickens even further.
Supply shortfall row
The vaccine producer AstraZeneca has been in dispute about the company's delivery commitments to the EU.
The bloc agreed to buy up to 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last year.
The firm said due to problems at one of its EU factories, supplies would be reduced by about 60% in the first quarter of 2021.
The two sides have not found agreement on whether that constitutes a breach of contract.
The first dose of the vaccine has been administered to 196,131 people in Northern Ireland so far.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiN2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3VrLW5vcnRoZXJuLWlyZWxhbmQtNTU4NjQ0NDLSATtodHRwczovL3d3dy5iYmMuY28udWsvbmV3cy9hbXAvdWstbm9ydGhlcm4taXJlbGFuZC01NTg2NDQ0Mg?oc=5
2021-01-29 19:17:00Z
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