Following the donors' conference earlier this week, on Thursday 7 May EU Health Ministers discussed the way forward for accessible and safe Covid-19 vaccines. This exchange also allowed Commissioner Stella Kyriakides to criticise Member States for under-using the European joint procurement procedure.
While several negotiation procedures with industry have been launched since the beginning of the pandemic, two have been completed by the European Commission. One concerns personal protective equipment and the other concerns ventilators. This procedure allows Member States to benefit from better conditions than if they had negotiated alone.
Despite the work carried out by the institution, which has made it possible to secure access to this equipment to the tune of 3 billion euros, "we have received information of very few orders to date". "From our side we have done everything possible to finalise these procurements as quickly as possible, and I would really urge you all now to take the final step and place your orders," said Commissioner Kyriakides.
An EU vaccination plan
The ministerial videoconference, held once a week, was devoted here to the search for a vaccine. On Monday, 4 May, the Commission had in fact obtained pledges to finance research into a vaccine to the tune of EUR 7.4 billion.
In her presentation, Stella Kyriakides identified a series of challenges that must be overcome "before we can ensure widespread access to an effective vaccine". In particular she mentioned the need to identify and financially support a portfolio of the most promising vaccine candidates. She also spoke of the need to set up an appropriate infrastructure for clinical trials (in particular via a European clinical trials network) and to speed up the marketing authorisation procedure for the product, compromising on the safety and efficacy. Finally, she stressed the need, once a vaccine is authorised, to secure access to it and to consider public support to upscale production in Europe.
"These challenges cannot be tackled if you are acting alone. If we coordinate this at EU level however, we can produce more effective solutions together, said the Commissioner.
An appeal relayed by the S&D Group in the European Parliament
This call for more European coordination was echoed by the S&D group. In a letter addressed to the three European institutions (Parliament, EU Council and Commission), the group calls for the urgent creation of a "European Health Union". The Social Democrats call on the Commission to propose common European minimum standards on the basis of "stress tests" of their health systems carried out by the Member States. This is in order to assess their ability to cope with pandemics. The EU should also play a greater role in the supply, storage and distribution of essential equipment and medicines, the group believes. "If not now, when?" they ask.
Reorganisation at the Commission
On Thursday, the Commission also announced the appointment of Belgian virologist Peter Piot as Special Advisor on the response to coronavirus and Covid-19 to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Already a member of the Commission's Scientific Advisory Committee, this former UN Under-Secretary-General co-discovered the Ebola virus in Zaire in 1976. He will advise the Commission in supporting and steering research and innovation.
The Spokesperson's Service of the European institution also announced that, in line with the measures taken by Belgium, the recommendations of the health authorities and those issued by its own medical services, the Commission will continue to encourage teleworking for non-critical jobs until 25 May. Spokesman Balazs Ujvari also said that 61 of the institution's staff had so far tested positive for Covid-19. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)