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The first doses of the anti-Covid vaccine are ready. As announced by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, operations will begin on December 27, about a month ahead of original plans.
The eradication of the virus will allow the old continent restart the economy engine, mostly involved in the last twelve months. But there is more: according to observers, in fact, the logistical – and political – coordination that requires mass vaccination strengthen the EU system, weakened on several occasions by sovereign currents and by persistent Euroscepticism.
A rapprochement of European hearts, this one, that the political class of the old continent waited for a long time, and that will contribute to make up for the UK divorce currently being finalized.
The vaccine will strengthen the cohesion of the EU
It took a pandemic for the European Union to rediscover the spirit that the founding fathers had when, with the Treaty of Rome of 1957, they gave life to the community project. In fact, in recent months, the leaders of the old continent have rediscovered the unpredictable virtues of solidarity, the latter throbbing joint effort that will break the circulation of the virus.
After the handshake on the Recovery Fund and the approval of the community budget, the continental political class thus adds another notch to its belt. No pretense of increasing national vaccine quotas, intense conversation about anti-Covid strategies: this is a political epiphany that will eventually cement Europe, from Portugal to the eastern territories.
Also, it wasn’t obvious. In fact, the European flame went out several times by the nationalist winds: first, the 2016 referendum which sanctioned the will of the British to leave the European Union, with due respect to David Cameron, the Conservative leader who had also called for a vote to confirm British loyalty to the community project.
Then, the incessant propaganda of the Eurosceptic fronds, from the Hungarian conservatives led by Orbán to the Dutch nationalists. A kind of populist international that has hit Brussels for years, the latter often unable to withstand the blows. But now it could be the vaccine that stops the threat of the virus and sovereignty.
Covid vaccine: what does the EU plan foresee?
As mentioned, the vaccination campaign will begin between December 27 and 29 throughout the European Union. The acceleration will allow Brussels to align itself with the United States and the United Kingdom, where distribution operations for the first doses began a few days ago.
Total, 448 million people will need to be vaccinated: for this, the leaders of the old continent have agreed to purchase 300 million doses of Pfizer vaccine and an additional round that will bring immediate availability for share 460 million.
This first supply will be followed by the shipment of approx. 400 million doses of AstraZeneca, 405 million by the large German pharmaceutical company Curevac and others 900 million by Johnson & Johnson, Novovax and GlaxoSmithKline. An excess of measure that Brussels will take advantage of to guarantee the immunization of those non-European countries that will not be able to cover the costs.
