Vaccinating 70% by summer will be “ difficult ” – POLITICO

Reaching the European Union’s target of vaccinating 70 percent of the adult population by the summer will be “difficult”, European Council President Charles Michel said on Sunday.

“There are difficulties in the production lines in the coming weeks and that will make the process more complex,” Michel said in an interview with Europe 1 radio, “but if we manage to mobilize the production lines, we we may be able to succeed. ”

“It’s going to be difficult,” he added.

The vaccination target is part of a list of non-binding Commission recommendations, which Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides called “ambitious” on Tuesday. According to POLITICO’s analysis, at the current rate of vaccination, it will not reach its target until March 2024.

“My conviction is that in the coming weeks, the implementation of vaccination campaigns will accelerate and become more fluid,” said Michel. “We hope that next week, or at least the end of January, a third vaccine will be available on the market.”

The EU has yet to approve the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, but could do so as early as Monday. However, AstraZeneca said on Friday that the first deliveries of its COVID-19 vaccine to the block would be “lower than initially forecast” due to “reduced yields at a manufacturing site within our European supply chain”.

Michel convened a summit of EU leaders last week where they discussed the response to the pandemic, including the emergence of several new, more contagious strains of the virus, and fears of production delays that could slow vaccine delivery.

Asked in the radio interview about the so-called vaccine passports, which are already discussed by countries like Greece and Italy, Michel said this discussion took place “too soon”.

“For the moment, we must first work on a vaccination certificate recognized at European or even world level,” he said.