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Ursula von der Leyen at the EU summit in Porto: Only an expansion of production could help quickly
Photo: ESTELA SILVA / AFP
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has warned against too high expectations of a suspension of patent protection for corona vaccines.
This will "not solve the problems in the short and medium term" and "not bring a single dose of vaccination," said von der Leyen at the EU summit in Porto.
Rather, it is necessary that countries with vaccines share them, that exports are not restricted and that investments are made in expanding production.
Von der Leyen reiterated that she was "open" to discussing the US proposal to suspend vaccine patents.
If this is carried out, however, it must be carried out with a "360-degree view" and take into account all aspects, "because we need vaccines for the entire world".
Von der Leyen emphasized that Europe had already started to share its vaccine stocks.
She referred to a delivery of 650,000 cans to the Western Balkans.
In addition, Europe is "the only democratic region in the world that exports on a large scale," said the head of the Commission.
Around half of all vaccines made in the EU would be exported.
She urged other countries to follow suit.
When investing in production capacities, it is clear that it is not just about European capacities, said von der Leyen.
"We also have to work with pharmaceutical companies to build capacities over time, for example in Africa."
In the past few days, more than a hundred states had declared that they wanted to suspend patent protection for corona vaccines.
The US government and the EU had also announced that they would like to discuss it.
ime / AFP / Reuters