LONDON — The U.K. did not miss out by opting out of an EU scheme to bulk-buy masks, gowns and gloves to protect care workers against COVID-19, Downing Street said on Tuesday.

Responding to a report in the Guardian that the U.K. missed three opportunities to be part of an EU procurement scheme for protective equipment, the prime minister’s official spokesman told journalists: “Participating in this scheme would not have allowed us to do anything that we have not been able to do ourselves.”

“For the majority of PPE included in the EU scheme, the supply of items to participating countries is still subject to the European Commission signing off individual contracts with suppliers. [On] the placing of orders and negotiations on delivery schedules, we understand that participating countries may begin to receive PPE starting from two weeks after orders are placed, but delivery will be subject to the same demand pressures of all other procurement currently taking place.”