Von der Leyen defends EU vaccine strategy: ‘It was the right thing to do’

Today (10 February) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addressed  MEPs in a debate in the European Parliament on the EU’s COVID-19 vaccination strategy. Von der Leyen admitted to the European Parliament that the EU was late to authorize, too optimistic when it came to upscaling production and “perhaps” too confident that what was ordered would be delivered on time. 

Von der Leyen said that by the end of the summer, at least 70% of the EU’s population will have been vaccinated, but at acknowledged that the EU was still not where it should be.

It was the right thing to do

Von der Leyen said: “I am deeply convinced of it was the right thing to do, it is the right thing to do that we as Europeans, to collectively have ordered in solidarity, the vaccine.

"I cannot even imagine what would have happened if just a handful of big players, big member states had rushed to it, and everybody else would have been left empty-handed, what would that have meant for our internal market and for the unity of Europe, but in economic terms, it would have been nonsense.”

International solidarity

Von der Leyen underlined that it was the EU that was key in establishing COVAX, the facility that improves  access to vaccines by low and middle income countries around the world: “As team Europe, that is the member states and the European institutions, we have provided €850 million, making us one of the biggest contributors.” 

Safety

Von der Leyen also “fully defended” the choice the EU made to prefer ‘market authorization’ approval over the more risky ‘emergency use’ approach followed by the UK and by some EU countries using the Chinese or Russian SputnikV vaccinations. She said: “There is no compromise possible when it's a matter of injecting a biologically active substance into an individual who is in good health.”

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