EU to launch “second generation” vaccine program against COVID-19



[ad_1]

The HERA incubator program, which begins on Wednesday, will bring together the pharmaceutical industry, laboratories, health institutions and researchers, Ursula von der Leyen told the French daily Les Echos on Tuesday.

“The virus is evolving and will continue to evolve,” said a spokesman for the bloc, which has been criticized for the slowness of vaccination.

“It is important that we prepare for mutations,” he added.

Member states will also be asked to provide additional funding to allow the EU to tailor and adjust contracts already signed with vaccine suppliers and guarantee dosing according to future options, Bloomberg said.

The EC did not provide additional comments to the AFP news agency.

Delays in the delivery of three already approved AstraZeneca, Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are putting pressure on EU drug regulators to speed up the approval of more vaccines in European capitals.

US pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson is the latest company to apply for permission to use its coronavirus vaccine in the EU, a decision that could be made in mid-March, the European Medicines Agency said on Tuesday.



[ad_2]