European Union chief unveils ‘joint action’ to buy possible COVID-19 vaccine

The European Union on June 17 reportedly unveiled a strategy to centrally purchase a COVID-19 vaccine on behalf of all EU countries. The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reportedly said that the joint action at the EU level will allow all member states to increase the likelihood of finding an effective vaccine and to secure the unnecessary volume for the citizens at a good price.

According to an international media report, the new strategy would also see the commission pay upfront for some of the costs faced by vaccine producers, in exchange for the right to but a set number of doses at a fixed price. While launching the strategy, Ursula said that the centralising vaccine procurement at EU level has the merit of speed and efficiency by comparison with 27 separate processes. She reportedly also added that no member state on its own has the capacity to secure the investment in developing and producing a sufficient number of vaccines. 

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The commission believes that the new approach will create a number of advantages for both EU countries and producers. Furthermore, the officials also added that for the vaccine producers, the commission will be offering a significantly simplified negotiation process with a single point of contact. 

As per reports, the commission will be investing in all stages of development. From clinical trials to increasing capacity along the entire production chain to allow for large-scale production of the vaccine, the European Commission will overlook and invest in a bid to enable rapid development. As the commission will be inviting upfront, the officials will also have the right to buy a specified number of vaccine doses in a given timeframe and at a given price. 

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Emergency Support Instrument 

Furthermore, the European Commission also revealed that to finance the plan, they are proposing to use a new 2.7 billion euro fund called the Emergency Support Instrument, which was created to help the EU member states to recover from the deadly coronavirus pandemic. 

The commission believes that the member states would be able to benefit from purchasing vaccines through a single procurement action and they would also benefit from the scientific and regulatory expertise of the Commission. Moreover, as per reports, the commission is also urging countries to participate in the process from the start and contribute their expertise on potential vaccine candidates. 

(Image: @vonderleyen/Twitter) 

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