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EU leaders have expressed deep concern about the emergence of new variants of the coronavirus and their possible impact on the pandemic in Europe.
After a video conference of the 27 leaders, member states agreed to intensify antigen testing and genomic sequencing to gain a deeper understanding of the new variants and their prevalence in the European Union.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said the situation was very serious, although the acceleration of the deployment of vaccines in the coming weeks offered hope.
The concern is that the variants first detected in England, Brazil and South Africa are so transmissible that they will require much stricter blocks.
Then, calls for border closures, travel bans and other tough measures could mean a further blow to the European economy.
It is understood that the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine should be able to resist the variant first detected in England, but officials are less certain about the other mutations.
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Leaders said that once more vaccine doses are available in the second trimester, the goal of vaccinating 70% of the adult population by summer can be reached.
Although no decision was made on a travel ban for those entering the EU, that may be in the cards at some point.
The European Commission wants to make sure travel restrictions are coordinated within the EU, so that key workers and supplies can cross borders when needed.
Now member states will make a real effort to increase antigen testing and genomic sequencing of positive tests so that a more accurate picture of new variants can emerge.
Ireland and most other member states are currently sequencing only 1% of positive tests.
Leaders agreed that it should rise to at least 5%.
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