A nurse is preparing a Covid-19 vaccine syringe during a vaccination campaign at a nursing home in Athens.
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The European Union has been criticized for the speed with which Covid vaccines are being developed, as its two largest economies are extending their restrictions on coronavirus due to the worrying number of cases.
A number of European officials have expressed concern about the bloc’s vaccination plans in recent days and have asked the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, to explain why it has not bought more jabber.
According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, more than 17 million cases of coronavirus have been reported in the region (including the UK).
“It is difficult to explain that a very good vaccine is being developed in Germany, but it is being vaccinated faster elsewhere,” Markus Söder, leader of the German region of Bavaria, said in a weekend interview, according to Politico. The German company BioNTech developed, together with Pfizer, one of the first Covid vaccines.
The European Union began its vaccination program at the end of December, after the approval of the Pfizer / BioNTech jab. Despite being developed in Germany, the jab received approval in the UK and the United States long before European authorities lit it in green.
Uğur Shahin, chief executive of BioNTech, also told German media over the weekend that “the process has certainly not been as quick and simple in Europe as in other countries.”
In the meantime, the UK has approved two more vaccines, but the European Medicines Agency has not yet ruled on the AstraZeneca or Moderna offers.
In addition to timetable concerns, there are also questions about whether the EU has purchased enough vaccines.
“The (European) Commission must rise to the occasion. To this end, how will the EU make up for the lack of files purchased in the Union?” Luis Garicano, MEP, wrote in a letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen over the weekend.
The European Commission has signed six contracts with vaccine manufacturers on behalf of European countries. Each EU nation will receive the vaccines at the same time, and the distribution will be per capita.
Among these contracts, the EU agreed to buy 200 million doses of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine with the option to buy an additional 100 million doses. The Commission also agreed to buy 300 million doses of vaccine from AstraZeneca, with the option to buy another 100 million. His contract with Moderna accepts a purchase of 80 million doses, plus an option to buy up to 80 million more.
There are more than 447 million citizens living in the 27 EU countries, according to the region’s statistics office.
“Israel, a nation with only 1/50 of the EU population, has vaccinated more citizens than all EU member states combined. Madam President, how is this possible?” Garicano asked in his letter to von der Leyen.
A European Commission spokesman said on Monday that the institution was “very focused on ensuring that the implementation of our strategy is done, is well done”.
“The Commission understood very, very early on that both the purchase of vaccines and the vaccination process would be major efforts for the European Union,” the spokesman told reporters.
France, one of the most skeptical nations in the EU, announced last week that it was stepping up its vaccination process. The country is also reviewing extinguishing hours in the worst-hit regions in an effort to counter the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, Germany, where there is a national blockade from the end of November, will extend this emergency measure until the end of the month.
Visitors line up outside a Covid-19 vaccination site at the Berlin Arena in Berlin, Germany.
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