LONDON — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday called on coronavirus vaccine makers to deliver on their pledges to supply millions of doses to the bloc, and beyond.
Her comments come amid an unprecedented challenge for the EU when it comes to the rollout of vaccines to each of the 27 member states. The EU’s vaccination drive began on Dec. 27, a later start than the U.K. or the U.S., and the patchy, sluggish rollouts across many of its members have perturbed officials and the public.
“Europe invested billions to help develop the world’s first Covid-19 vaccines. To create a truly global common good,” von der Leyen told the virtual Davos Agenda summit. “And now, the companies must deliver. They must honor their obligations.”
“Europe is determined to contribute to this global common good, but it also means business,” she said
‘We were inward-looking’
A few hours later and at the same event, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for more cooperation and multilateralism when it comes to the life-saving jabs.
She told the World Economic Forum that “it has become even clearer to me than it was before that we need to choose a multilateral approach, that a self-isolating approach won’t solve our problems.”
The coronavirus pandemic had illustrated the high degree of interdependence and interconnection in the world, she added, and that Germany had initially made the mistake of looking inward to try to beat the pandemic, rather than working with others.
“We were inward-looking, shutting ourselves off against each other, but very quickly we learned the lesson (not to do that)” she said.
