European Commission to step up action to combat COVID-19 and bolster vaccine preparation

European Commission announced (28-Oct-2020) plans to accelerate the EU response to COVID-19. The Union will launch additional measures to combat the virus, including increasing rapid testing infrastructure, bolstering contact tracing and making preparations for vaccination campaigns to facilitate safe travel when necessary. The EU will mobilise EUR100 million from its emergency support instrument to purchase rapid tests that will be distributed to member states, as well as launch a joint procurement to make more kits available. The Commission is also negotiating agreements with vaccine producers to make vaccines available to Europeans and the world as soon as they are proven safe and effective. A common reporting framework and a platform to monitor the effectiveness of national vaccine strategies will also be established. To share the best practices, the conclusions of the first review on national vaccination plans will be presented in Nov-2020. [more - original PR] [more - original PR - II]