German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the European Union must prepare to get vaccinated for new coronavirus variants in the coming years after EU leaders considered ways to fight new variants of the virus, taking action in inoculations and save Europe’s tourism industry from another summer ruin.
The 27 EU leaders on Thursday agreed to maintain “strict restrictions” on public life and free movement as the blocs race against new changes that could impede economic recovery.
“We need to prepare for a situation where we need to continue vaccination for a longer period, perhaps over years, due to new coronavirus changes, similar to the situation we know from the flu,” Merkel said.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the EU must “stay with this virus” in the long term.
Italy’s new Prime Minister, former European Central Bank CEO Mario Draghi, has called for a tougher EU stance against pharmaceutical companies that are releasing vaccines after a strong start to delivery jaban.
The European Commission active in the collection of virtual leaders said that 51.5 million doses of vaccines were given to the EU and 29.17 million were administered, with about 5 percent of citizens having received the first dose.
The Commission and EU countries have caught fire for messages in their inoculation program and the spread of images that have been badly behind Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Summit chairman Charles Michel said the bloc wanted “increased expectation and transparency” from pharmaceutical companies that did not deliver the amount of vaccines under contract, putting the EU target at 70 per cent. submitted by their adults by mid to late 2021.
Away from where European Council President Charles Michel chaired the video conference from Brussels, EU lawmakers brewed the heads of major pharmaceutical companies.
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot raised many questions from the European Parliament, especially after it was confirmed that the company would deliver less than half of the vaccines it had promised in the first quarter.
Reporting from Berlin, Berlin’s Dominic Kane of Al Jazeera said legislators did not appear to be satisfied with Soriot’s responses.
“Parliament was again asked a number of different questions, hostile questions about how some parts of the vaccine his company has produced could be exported in the EU and to be available in the UK but not, ”he said.
“His answers were not particularly forthcoming, at least not to the satisfaction of the members of the European Parliament. What reinforces the current element of questioning, not only in Germany but around the EU, is the pace at which vaccines are being administered. And also the question of whether that pace can be accelerated, can more people be vaccinated faster than is currently the case? ”
Vaccination certificates
After the pandemic killed more than 900,000 people in Europe and sparked its worst-ever recession, EU leaders have agreed to push for work on vaccine certification, which southern countries hope to pursue. release of tourism during the European summer.
But others, including France and Germany, are skeptical. Merkel said technical work on that should be completed before the summer.
As the EU unfolds a fine line between restrictions to stop the spread of disease and keep borders open to ensure the smooth flow of goods and services across the single market, Merkel said unexpectedly has imposed tighter border restrictions on the Moselle region of France for now.
Although infection rates are declining in around 20 EU member states, there are concerns about new spikes as the coronavirus variant first discovered in the UK is spreading rapidly.
The head of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said the British variant was present in 26 of the 27 EU countries, the South African variant in 14 and the Brazilian variant in seven countries.
“COVID fatigue is growing among our citizens… But we should not give up now. Not only is the situation still bad in many parts of Europe, but we also need to look for the new variables that are spreading, ”she said.