LISBON, Portugal
Portugal’s Prime Minister, António Costa, has said during a new video conference of European Union leaders dedicated to the fight against Covid-19 he wants faster jabs and the sharing of vaccines, especially with Africa.
“On the first day of the European Council, I stressed the
importance of accelerating vaccination. Vaccine distribution contracts must be
fulfilled, and we need to boost production, distribution and authorisation
capacity for vaccines in the EU,” he said on Thursday, in the first of three
posts on Twitter about the summit.
Costs added that international solidarity in sharing vaccines,
especially with Africa, is essential to eradicate the virus.
Finally, Costa also considered it vital to ensure the regular
functioning of the internal market through coordinated action at borders and by
guaranteeing green corridors and the rights of cross-border workers.
The Prime Minister, who will only give statements to the press
on the second day of work at the European Council – a virtual summit dedicated
to security and defence policy issues, and the southern neighbourhood –
attended the leaders’ meeting from the Centro Cultural de Belém in Lisbon,
headquarters of the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU.
In conclusions adopted on Thursday by EU leaders on the Covid-19
pandemic, the 27 accept that the epidemiological situation remains serious and
new variants pose additional challenges, so strict restrictions must be
maintained while stepping up efforts to boost the supply of vaccines.
“Vaccination is underway in all member states and, thanks to our
vaccine strategy, everyone has access to vaccines. Nevertheless, we urgently
need to accelerate the authorisation, production and distribution of vaccines,
as well as the actual jabs. We also need to strengthen our surveillance and
detection capacity to identify variants as early as possible to control their
spread,” according to the adopted conclusions.
The European Council then said it supports further efforts by
the Commission to work with industry and member states to increase current
vaccine production capacity and adapt vaccines to new variants as necessary.
“We also support the Commission’s ongoing efforts to speed up
the availability of raw materials, facilitate agreements between manufacturers
across supply chains, examine existing facilities to help increase production
in the EU and strengthen research and development efforts,” the leaders added.
The 27 also reaffirm their solidarity with third countries and
say they are committed to improving access to vaccines for priority groups in
neighbouring countries and beyond.
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