About: eu vaccine strategy

Commission defends itself amid accusations of unfair vaccine distributions

The European Commission has addressed the accusations of unfair distributions of COVID vaccines levied against it by member states this week, pointing out that some countries opted not to take up all the vaccines made available to them.

EMA ‘convinced’ Astrazeneca vaccine benefits outweigh risks

There is currently no indication of a direct link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and rare cases of blood clotting, the European Medicine Agency (EMA) has said, although the agency is set to offer its conclusion on the matter on Thursday (18 March). 

Austria’s Chancellor Kurz accuses EU of foul play in vaccine distribution

Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz accused the EU on Friday (12 March) of unfairly distributing COVID-19 vaccines among member states, highlighting that certain EU countries have several times more vaccines than others.

New needs-based COVID vaccine distribution scheme needed, say Baltics

Three Baltic states have written to the European Commission asking for a new system of COVID-19 vaccine distributions based on need, which they say will improve the efficiency of the EU's vaccination programme. 

Commission denies existence of COVID vaccine side deals

The European Commission denied on Tuesday (12 January) the existence of bilateral vaccine contracts between individual EU countries and manufacturers, saying this is not possible under the joint procurement agreement. This directly contradicts the Portuguese EU presidency, who confirmed such deals last week.