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For days, some European countries have been pushing to start the coronavirus vaccination campaign on the same day across the European Union – a move that is likely to demonstrate unity in one of the most sensitive periods since the start of the pandemic, in which among other countries they have published new strict rules to avoid a third wave of pandemic.
Yesterday afternoon the idea of starting the administration of the vaccine on the same day was also taken up by the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who in a speech during the plenary session of the European Parliament said: “Let’s start as soon as possible with the vaccinations, together, all 27 on the same day. Just as we have faced this pandemic together, let us begin together to eradicate this terrible virus. “
It is unclear whether von der Leyen’s was an advertisement or, more likely, an endorsement. The European Union has very little competence in health matters, and in recent months it has limited itself to trying to coordinate as much as possible the restrictions and reopening decided in the individual states. Among the few concrete things it has been able to do, the European Commission has booked tens of millions of doses on behalf of European states with the six pharmaceutical companies that are developing the most promising vaccines.
Another important European step will be the authorization of the vaccine developed by Pfizer-BioNTech by EMA, the European Medicines Agency. It was precisely the news that the EMA anticipated a meeting to evaluate the request for authorization of the vaccine until December 21 that it brought out the proposal to begin vaccinating Europeans the same day.
Immediately after von der Leyen’s statement, other members and officials of the European Commission tried to moderate his words. “I think there was a misunderstanding,” said Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas, Euronews: ‘The important thing is that all Europeans have access to the vaccine the same day.’ Eric Mamer, a spokesperson for von der Leyen, also explained that von der Leyen has merely promoted a “coordinated” approach to vaccination.
Some countries seem to like the idea more than others. Yesterday, the Italian Health Minister, Roberto Speranza, said that he had proposed “together with the ministers of seven other European countries, including France and Germany, that vaccinations begin on the same day in the month. December. “It is not clear what the other five are: Corriere della Sera He speaks of Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland, Spain and Switzerland (which is not in the European Union, however).
The HuffPost in particular, he writes about the “ongoing conversations” that took place in recent days between Speranza and German Health Minister Jens Spahn, while yesterday Speranza also listened to his French namesake, Olivier Véra.
In fact, Germany and France seem to be the two countries most willing to start vaccines immediately. On Wednesday evening, local authorities in Berlin, the German capital, announced that they intend to start vaccinations on Sunday, December 27. The announcement came after Spahn’s meeting with health officials from 16 German states. On the same day, French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced in the Chamber that his government is ready to start vaccinations in the last week of December, “if conditions are right.”
Pfizer said that if EMA approves the vaccine at the Dec. 21 meeting, it would start shipping the necessary doses “in the next few hours, possibly.” However, there is no information on how many doses could go. Yesterday, the Belgian Federal Minister of Health, for example, spoke of a “symbolic” quota of 10,000 doses that should arrive at the end of December. Also in Italy it is believed that the true mass administration campaign can only begin at the end of January.
It is not even clear if all countries already have the appropriate structures to start the vaccination campaign, if only in a symbolic way. A few days ago a European diplomatic source had said The country that the idea circulating among European governments was the less ambitious of a “vaccination week”, rather than a specific day.
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