EU Chief aims to strengthen Indo-EU ties; Ministers raise concern on vaccine delay
EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen
The EU ChiefUrsula von der Leyen, while talking at a summit assured the Commission supports "a fast, smooth rollout of vaccination in the EU" as it is the "onlyway to eradicate the virus."
Talking about the upcomingSocial Summit in Porto in May,she also said she wants to "deepen our ties" with India with an aim to "revive the transatlantic relationship".
Meanwhile, deliveries of the coronavirus vaccine being manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech will be delayed to several European Union (EU) countries because of some modifications happening at the company's plant in Belgium.
"At short notice, the EU Commission and, via it, the EU member states, were informed that Pfizer will not be able to fully meet the already promised delivery volume for the next three to four weeks due to modifications at the Puurs plant," Germany's health ministry said on Friday.
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Pfizer has revealed the modifications are taking place to increase the capacity of vaccine production. The EU ministers voice serious concern over vaccine delay; EU Chief news has come as a shock and Germany admitted it "took note of this very last minute and unexpected news with regret".
The ministry also added, it "expects the EU commission to seek clarity and certainty for further deliveries and delivery dates from Pfizer as soon as possible".
Meanwhile, after the announcement, ministers from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden expressed concern over this shocking news that can have a dangering effect and wrote a letter to the European Union Commission. "We are obliged to inform our public and the particular risk groups... that their vaccination will be delayed, regardless of the outstanding efforts by our governments to ensure timely delivery," the letter read.
"We request you to urgently engage with BioNTech/Pfizer to demand a public explanation of the situation and to stress the need to ensure stability and transparency of timely deliveries," it added. "Some were given the deadline of February 8, 2021, some were given no information on the duration of the intended decreased deliveries."
While the EU ChiefUrsula von der Leyen has assured the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines' deliveries will be made on time, the pharmaceutical company has admitted there may be fluctuations. "There may be fluctuations in orders and shipping schedules at our Puurs (Belgium) facility in the immediate future to quickly enable the increased production volumes," the company said.
"Although this will temporarily impact shipments in late January to early February, it will provide a significant increase in doses available for patients in late February and March," it added.