As the prospect of a Covid-19 vaccine takes shape, the European Union (EU) is getting organized.
The first vaccinations against Covid-19 in the EU could take place "in the first quarter of 2021", in an "optimistic" scenario, affirms this Wednesday the director of the European agency in charge of epidemics.
The epidemic situation on the Old Continent is "very very worrying and all our indicators are pointing in the wrong direction," said Andrea Ammon, director of the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC).
She thus calls on Europeans to scrupulously respect the restrictions in place, "however difficult it may be".
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In the current situation, "it could take longer to bring down the number of cases" than during the first wave of March-April, warned the health official.
As for the road to the first European vaccinations, it is still long and uncertain and "could take a few months".
“Being optimistic, first quarter of next year but I cannot be more specific,” she said.
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A European source told AFP on Tuesday that an authorization for a vaccine in the EU could take place "early 2021", after the announcement of a 90% effective vaccine by the American Pfizer and the German BioNTtech which has given hope to the pandemic.
The American authorities speak of "a few weeks".
The vaccine "will not be a panacea"
Pfizer's announcement is “of course promising,” says Andrea Ammon.
However, “it's a press release and not a peer review
(Editor's note: study published and validated by peers)
so we have to see what the final evaluation will be”.
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After the end of the phase 3 trials, the European Medicines Agency will still have to assess the results and give, or not, a marketing authorization.
"Then we will have to start production and only then can we start to vaccinate", underlines the epidemiological manager.
The European Commission announced Wednesday that it had approved a contract with Pfizer and BioNTech to purchase up to 300 million doses of their vaccine.
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Questioned at the same time in Brussels (Belgium), the European Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides, also displayed her caution, even if "hope is there".
"Even when we have a safe and effective vaccine, it will not be the panacea that will make Covid-19 disappear in a day," she warned.
In conjunction with the national authorities, the ECDC prepares the rules to define the priority groups for access.
“Generally speaking, these are vulnerable populations and health workers.
But we are trying to define it better, because these groups are still quite numerous ”, explains Andrea Ammon.
According to the latest ECDC score, all EU countries except Finland and Estonia, as well as the UK, are "very concerned" about their epidemic situation.
All the different EU indicators, namely the rate of positive tests, the percentage of older people in the total number of cases, the hospitalization rate and mortality "are on the rise" and "the peak is not achieved ".