The Commission has mobilized €123 million to support “urgent research into coronavirus variants”. The move, announced by the EU Commission today, falls within the framework of Horizon Europe, the new research and innovation programme. “This first emergency funding”, a statement explains, “adds to a range of EU-funded research and innovation actions to fight the coronavirus and contributes to the Commission’s overall action to prevent, mitigate and respond to the impact of coronavirus variants”. Commissioner for Research Mariya Gabriel said: “We continue to mobilise all means at our disposal to fight this pandemic and the challenges presented by coronavirus variants. We must use our combined strength to be prepared for the future, starting from the early detection of the variants to the organisation and coordination of clinical trials for new vaccines and treatments, while ensuring correct data collection and sharing at all stages”.