Austria and Denmark to stop relying on EU for coronavirus vaccine development and start cooperating with Israel

Austria and Denmark “will in future cease to depend on the European Union (EU)” for vaccination and plan to cooperate with Israel in the production of drugs for novel coronavirus mutations, the Austrian Chancellor announced on Tuesday, Sebastian kurz.

“Experts estimate that annual vaccinations will be needed for around six million Austrians. That is why we will cooperate closely with Denmark and Israel in the research and production of vaccines. “Kurz wrote on his Twitter account on Tuesday.

According to the local news agency WHAT, the conservative politician will raise this issue with his Israeli counterpart, the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in the visit he plans to make next Thursday in Israel.

EMA Reviews

Access to vaccines across the EU, as has been done so far, is “in principle correct,” Kurz said. However, he considered that “The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is too slow to approve vaccines and there are bottlenecks in the supply of pharmaceutical companies”he added in a statement sent to the APA.

In the note, the head of government announced “A change of course” in the immunization strategy not only of your country, but also of Denmark, Greece and the Czech Republic, as part of a cooperation in which they could also participate Australia and Norway.

All the nations mentioned belong to a group calling themselves “First steps in the countries”, formed during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, when they accepted exchange experiences after verifying that they are doing better than others in the fight against the COVID-19 disease.

Future changes

“We must prepare for more mutations and we must not continue to depend solely on the EU for the production of second generation vaccines”Kurz insisted after commenting on the opinion of many scientists that the population should regularly renew their vaccinations in the years to come.

To face this future, Austria, Denmark and members of the “pioneer” group will stop “relying on the EU in the future and, along with Israel, will produce doses of second-generation vaccines for other coronavirus mutations in the years to come. come, in addition to jointly investigating the options. for the treatment “, he clarified.

He explained that Austria, out of 8.9 million inhabitants, estimates that it will need at least 30 million doses of vaccines, given that, according to experts, two-thirds of the population will probably need to be vaccinated each year in the years to come.

Production “at home”

Over the past few weeks, Vienna has repeatedly criticized the EMA, accusing it of being too bureaucratic in decision-making, and has shown its willingness to facilitate and promote the production of vaccines of various origins, including Russian Sputnik V, on Austrian territory.

As part of the preparation for his trip to Israel, Kurz plans to meet with representatives of the country’s leading pharmaceutical companies on Tuesday.

(With information from EFE)

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