The European Commission is stepping up initiatives to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to the announcement of a vaccination passport initiative, which will be presented on 17 March (see EUROPE 12668/1), the European Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides, announced on Monday 1 March her intention to present a recommendation on the monitoring of waste water for variants.
“The variants are posing a clear threat, as these more transmissible variants are now present in all Member States. And in several of them, they have become the main strain”, she said at an informal meeting of European health ministers, according to a draft speech sent to EUROPE. Her message focused on the need for “more genomic sequencing, multiplex PCR tests” and “wastewater screening” in the coming months.
This ministerial videoconference came just a few days after the latest monthly summit of Heads of State or Government on Covid-19 (see EUROPE 12666/1). And almost 13 months after the first case of infection was detected in Europe.
“I hope this is the last full year under the yoke of the pandemic. The end is in sight, but it has not yet been reached”, Commission Vice-President Margarítis Schinás told the press.
A fourth vaccine before mid-March
In particular, the meeting provided an opportunity to take stock of the state of testing kits and vaccines. Mrs Kyriakides recalled that last October the Commission purchased 20 million rapid antigenic tests, with deliveries scheduled to start today and run until the end of April (see EUROPE 12591/1). She also announced that it has launched a European public contract, this time for 550 million tests, which can be ordered by Member States as of today.
On the subject of Covid-19 vaccines, Mrs Kyriakides confirmed rumours that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) would deliver its opinion on Johnson & Johnson’s candidate vaccine earlier than expected. According to her, it should happen “ within 2 weeks”.
Mrs Kyriakides also reiterated her willingness to enter into new agreements for the advance purchase of vaccines and to adapt existing contracts in light of new variants.
On the other hand, she made no mention of the Russian or Chinese vaccine, despite the intention of several European countries to follow Hungary’s lead. According to the Hungarian leader, “six European countries” are interested in the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, while the Czech Republic has openly expressed its willingness to include it in its country’s vaccination strategy. On Monday, Polish President Andrzej Duda also envisaged a bilateral agreement between Poland and China on the vaccine from the Chinese laboratory Sinopharm.
One year of the Covid-19 pandemic
Margarítis Schinás has swept aside criticism that the European road to vaccination is slow. “We have avoided a nightmare scenario of vaccine nationalism”, he said.
According to him, without the European framework, there would be “an all out competition between the ‘big’ and ‘small’ Member States as to who gets what, at what price”. “And I think now we’re reaching the stage where very shortly, in a few months, we will not only achieve coverage of the European population, but we will also be able to help others with vaccines”, he said, urging avoidance of hasty negative judgements.
According to the latest figures put forward by the Commission, 33 million doses have been administered to date, and 11 million Europeans have been fully vaccinated. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)