First Vaccinations In Europe “Perhaps Before The End Of December”, Announces Ursula Von Der Leyden

Relaxing measures too quickly could create “a risk of a third wave after Christmas,” she warned. https://www.eudebates.tv/debates/eu-p... #eudebates #Covid_19 #coronavirus #Corona #COVD19 #Health #COVID #vaccine #RapidTests #Testing #COVIDtests #COVIDtest #CureVac LPresident of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen expressed to the European Parliament on Wednesday the hope of the first vaccinations against covid-19, perhaps already at the end of December in Europe. “The first European citizens could perhaps be vaccinated before the end of December. There is finally a light at the end of the tunnel, ”she said during a debate ahead of the December European summit. The Commission recently concluded a sixth vaccine pre-purchase contract with pharmaceutical companies. Last week, Mrs Von der Leyen had already estimated that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) could perhaps issue a conditional marketing authorization in the second half of December. The German also insisted on the efforts, in particular logistical, that the Member States must now implement to ensure correct vaccination of their population. “We are talking about millions of syringes, the cold chain, vaccination centers, the presence of qualified personnel, etc. Member States must prepare for hundreds of millions of doses. This is our way out of this crisis, ”she insisted. And while some countries are announcing first easing measures in the face of the ebb of the second wave, the president of the European executive called for lessons to be learned from the first and the easing of the summer holidays. Relaxing the measures too quickly could create “a risk of a third wave after Christmas,” she warned. https://www.eudebates.tv/ #eudebates EU leaders discussed, via video conference, the EU response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Commission president emphasizes regulatory approval is only the ‘very first step.’ https://www.eudebates.tv/debates/eu-p... #eudebates #Covid_19 #coronavirus #Corona #COVD19 #Health #COVID #vaccine #RapidTests #Testing #COVIDtests #COVIDtest #CureVac They focus on: mutual recognition of tests progress made on vaccines and the arrangements for their future deployment common approach on the lifting of restrictive measures The meeting comes as a follow-up to the video conference held on 29 October, where EU leaders highlighted the need to strengthen the collective effort to fight the pandemic and focused on testing and tracing policies and on vaccines. At a previous meeting on 15 and 16 October, the leaders discussed coordination at EU level against COVID-19 and agreed to revert regularly to this matter. Europe could have both the frontrunning coronavirus vaccines approved for widespread use next month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday evening. The statement follows promising results from trials of two separate shots — one a joint collaboration between U.S. pharma company Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech, and a second by the U.S.’s Moderna — over the past two weeks. “If all proceeds with no problems, EMA [the European Medicines Agency] tell us that the conditional marketing authorization for BioNTech and Moderna could happen as early as the second half of December 2020,” von der Leyen told a press conference following a videoconference of EU leaders. The head of the EMA, Emer Cooke, told POLITICO on Wednesday she was “hopeful” of approval for the BioNTech vaccine by the end of the year. Once approved by the EU regulator, countries could begin doling out the shots. Brussels already purchased 200 million vaccine doses from Pfizer/BioNTech and is negotiating to buy 80 million doses of Moderna’s via an EU-wide procurement mechanism, and has said these would be distributed to countries based on a “pro rata population distribution key.” However, von der Leyen emphasized that the EMA approval was only the “very first step” and that initially only “small numbers” of doses would be available. “The large numbers will only come later,” she said. “This is important to keep in mind.” Von der Leyen also said the EMA was “in daily calls” with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration “to synchronize the assessment” of the vaccine candidates. Asked about a delivery to Hungary of Russia’s candidate vaccine Sputnik V, which Moscow has said showed a similar efficacy to the other leading candidates, von der Leyen said it was not a topic of discussion for EU leaders at the videoconference. But she made clear she did not believe it should be used in the EU without EMA approval. https://www.eudebates.tv/ #eudebates