European Union says it will help to ensure that everyone who needs a COVID-19 vaccine will get it – including in the European neighbourhood

The development of a safe and effective vaccine is at the heart of the European Union’s coronavirus response, and the EU is committed to ensure that everyone who needs a vaccine will get it – including in the European neighbourhood.

A global pandemic needs to be solved globally, the European Union External Action Service said on its website on 11 January, in a report highlighting how the EU became a leader in the development of a vaccine and how it will ensure fair access to it for its citizens and partners.

The article reminds that until today the European Union has approved two vaccines to combat COVID-19. The first vaccine, developed by BioNTech and Pfizer, was approved at the end of 2020, the second vaccine produced by Moderna – at the beginning of 2021. The EU also launched a Global Coronavirus Response to mobilise resources and join forces among countries and global health organisations to accelerate the development and deployment of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines wherever they are needed.

“The EU is committed to help ensure that everyone who needs a COVID-19 vaccine has access to it, anywhere in the world. That is why we are supporting the COVAX Facility. This global initiative brings together governments and manufacturers to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines reach those in greatest need: whoever they are and wherever they live,” says the article.

The EU makes a key contribution by ensuring that over one billion vaccine doses will be made available to people in low and middle-income countries by the end of 2021, as well as to partners in the European neighbourhood and the Western Balkans.

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Press release