European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that the European Commission is set to propose a mechanism for sharing COVID-19 vaccines with non-EU countries, MIA reports from Brussels.
Thus, the EC head confirmed Tuesday’s statement issued by Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides regarding establishment of a mechanism that will assist low and middle income countries procure vaccines.
“We need to support our neighbours to start vaccinating their frontline workers – from the Western Balkans to the Eastern Partnership; to our African partners in the South. This is why the Commission is proposing an EU Vaccine Sharing Mechanism. This will channel vaccines either directly – or through the COVAX Facility in which the EU is the largest contributor,” von der Leyen told the European Parliament ahead of Thursday’s EU leaders summit dedicated to the vaccination process.
The EC chief reproached EU member states for lack of solidarity regarding vaccination.
“Some will ask how we can talk about sharing vaccines with others when we are not all vaccinated ourselves. To them I say: This is not only a matter of solidarity but also a matter of self-interest,” von der Leyen noted, stressing that EU’s geopolitical credibility is at stake.
She added that “those who show support to their partners – with doses and deeds – will not be forgotten, but those who do not, will be remembered – but for very different reasons.”
“Europe must be on the right side of history and humanity,” the EC head said.
According to Commissioner Kyriakides, the European Commission will provide grants for EUR 70 million to the Western Balkans, so that they can buy vaccines from member states. Moreover, the EC is working with the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide immediate support of more than EUR 50 million for vaccination preparedness in the Western Balkans and neighbourhood countries.
Earlier this week, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that vaccine nationalism puts the world on the brink of “catastrophic moral failure.”
