European Council: Sassoli, “step up vaccine production and speed up distribution and administration”

“Europe, like the rest of the world, is in the throes of a pandemic with grave social and economic implications. Today, in particular, we are questioning the effectiveness of the European vaccination campaign. What we have managed to achieve together in the course of one year is quite remarkable” but “now is not the time for complacency”, said European Parliament President David Sassoli in his address to the European Council. “We need to step up vaccine production” and “speed up the distribution and administration of vaccines both inside and outside the European Union”, he added. “We cannot afford to be naïve. It is time to apply the principles of reciprocity and proportionality before giving the green light to exports from the EU”. “We congratulate the Commission on locating missing batches of vaccine in Italy and hope that they will now be used in Europe and for the Covax programme. Let’s keep the momentum going and show the world what a better and more democratic Europe can do”. The online meeting of the EU-27 Heads of State and Government today and tomorrow is to address several topics, the “hottest” being the vaccination campaign. Indeed, at present the EU seems divided on a number of issues, such as the distribution of vaccine doses, vaccine exports, and how to address some other aspects of the pandemic, including the possibility for citizens to travel between Member States.
Valentina Bombelli