The EU, criticized for the slowness of the vaccination campaigns against Covid-19, will certainly experience new "
obstacles
" and "
production problems
", even "
shortages
" of components, estimated Thursday the president of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
“
In Europe, we aim for 70% of the adult population to be vaccinated before the end of the summer.
This is not nothing,
”said the head of the European executive in an interview with several media on the continent and published by the French daily La Croix.
However, "
there will certainly be other obstacles, other problems in production, we must also be prepared for possible shortages of raw materials or of certain components of the vaccines
”, she warned.
Read also: Vaccines: how Europe fell behind
The European Commission, which negotiated the pre-orders on behalf of the Twenty-Seven, has come under fire of criticism following delays in delivery of the first three anti-Covid vaccines authorized in the EU, due to difficulties related to production sites located in Europe.
“
Looking in the rearview mirror, we should have thought more about mass production and the challenges it poses (...) We should have warned, explaining that at the beginning, the process would not be smooth, that there would be ups and downs,
”observed Ursula von der Leyen, when asked about the broken promises of the first quarter.
The President of the European Commission, however, once again fiercely defended the time taken by Brussels to negotiate and authorize the vaccines developed against Covid.
“
Alone, a country can be a speedboat, while the EU is more like a ship.
Before concluding a contract (...) the 27 Member States had five full days to say whether they agreed or not.
This naturally delays the process,
”she explained.
It rules out any comparison with the United Kingdom and Israel, two states where vaccination campaigns are progressing in stark contrast to the delays in the EU.
"
The United Kingdom has chosen the path of emergency marketing authorizations, we have chosen another
" to allow a
thorough
"
control
" by the European regulator of the vaccines used, observed Ursula von der Leyen.
As for Israel, it is "
a very digitized country
", and "
personal health data is given to companies there."
This is not something we would like to do in the EU,
”she added.
