The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) debates with Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, on an EU Strategy for COVID-19 vaccines. It proposes a joint EU approach to accelerate the development of vaccines, in the European Parliament in Brussels.

Brussels

exchange of views

GUTELAND, Jytte (S&D, SE)

Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

LIESE, Peter (EPP, DE)

RIES, Frédérique (Renew, BE)

healthcare safety (T)

VONDRA, Alexandr (ECR, CZ)

KYRIAKIDES, Stella (CY, EC)

Coronavirus outbreak (T)

EU Strategy for COVID-19 vaccines: extracts from the exchange of views with Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Our strategy proposes a centralized EU approach to secure vaccine supplies. It includes support to vaccine producers to help increase their overall capacity and speed. This approach also significantly increases solidarity and ensures solidarity between member states avoiding competition while reinforcing the EU vaccines production capacity. Under our proposal, the commission will be negotiating advance purchase agreements with vaccine producers, giving member states the rights to buy the right to buy a successful vaccine.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Payments under these agreements will be financed by the ESI, the emergency support instrument, which would contribute to decrease in the necessary investments in vaccine development and manufacturing. We have now more than two billion euro in the instrument and stand ready to commit a significant proportion of these funds.

SOUNDBITE (English), Peter LIESE (EPP, DE), Coordinator, It's important to have the vaccine as soon as possible, but it must be safe for a clinical trials must be proper and the authorisation must look at the risk, but speed it up as soon as possible without compromising safety.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jytte GUTELAND (S&amp;D, SE), In the light of the pressing challenges we are under now during Covid-19. We support the temporary derogation that the Commission has proposed for clinical trials and medical products to treat or prevent for Covid 19, from some of the rules that currently apply to trials during involvation of GMOs.

SOUNDBITE (French), Fr&#233;d&#233;rique RIES (RE, BE), Coordinator, To ensure European solidarity is essential, thanks to these anticipated contracts for buying. And to follow through on a global access to vaccines against the Corono virus, Nobody will be safe before everyone is safe. According to some numbers I have read we need 14 billion doses to guarantee this global access.

SOUNDBITE (English), Alexandr VONDRA (ECR, CZ), Coordinator, So how will you reconcile your work with the alliance led by a couple of member states, to pool risk, resources and act collectively at the EU level with your own vaccine strategy?

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, No one is protected until everyone is protected, that is extremely true.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, First of all, I want to be absolutely clear here that we have been speaking and I have been speaking with the vaccine alliance for several weeks now. And it's important to understand that from the very beginning, they had also stated as member states that their efforts were were inclusive

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, We are facing a public health emergency. And in public health emergencies, you have extraordinary situations and you need extraordinary and exceptional measures. So having this in mind and knowing that some of the vaccines currently under development for Covid 19 are based on genetically modified viruses. We need to move forward with this derogation as quickly as possible. It is limited in scope. It does not alter environmental controls related to manufacturing of the product. The activities are exempted from assessment from the GMO legislation, which are not likely to pose a significant risk to the environment. And the environmental aspects will be duly assessed before the product is widely used in the EU.