EU’s coronavirus V-Day is (mostly) a win for von
der Leyen
Despite criticism and disobedient countries, the
Commission’s plan to vaccinate together as a bloc pays off.
BY JILLIAN
DEUTSCH
December
27, 2020 7:05 am
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-coronavirus-vday-win-ursula-von-der-leyen/
EU
countries will on Sunday roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated together —
even though European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has had to grip
their hands tightly at times.
Back in
June, the Commission proposed negotiating vaccine deals on behalf of all 27
member countries. Now, on December 27, those vaccines can finally be
administered.
Von der
Leyen on Saturday hailed this near-simultaneous start of vaccinations across
the bloc "a touching moment of unity," but the road to that moment
hasn't always been easy.
Hungary
tested this unity shortly after von der Leyen's statement by jumping the gun
and using the first shots on health care workers a day before the rest of the
bloc.
Getting
countries to agree to December 27 as a common vaccination day had been a
hurdle. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen originally said the country
would not wait for others to start vaccinating, but within days fell in line
with the December 27 date. Others, like the Netherlands, will wait until
January but only due to technical issues with setting up the registration
process.
Overall,
the EU’s vaccination strategy has been a major test for the Commission, as
countries handed over some of their national health powers to secure doses
together. But as far as the EU executive is concerned, it has passed.
Brussels
has boasted of its success — six deals with major vaccine producers, and a
seventh on the way — as proof that it should take on more health powers from EU
countries in the future as part of its so-called “European Health Union.”
The fact
that the first vaccine to be used is one developed in Germany, funded by EU
research money and backed by European Investment Bank funding, was the cherry
on top. “This is a true European success story," von der Leyen said Monday
after the Commission approved the vaccine.
Four major
countries — Germany, France, the Netherlands and Italy — essentially forced the
Commission's hand this spring by signing a deal with Oxford/AstraZeneca on
their own, but Brussels meant business: The Commission ditched its top names in
the health department and brought in Sandra Gallina, the No. 2 in its trade
department, to lead negotiations, found approximately €2.1 billion in down
payments for vaccines, and formed a largely secret team of negotiators to
extract the best deals from vaccine producers.
Sunday is
when those months of hard work pay off as most EU countries start using the
first doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine. The bloc should get 12.5 million
doses by the end of 2020, according to BioNTech, divided between EU countries
based on population. Each country decides who gets vaccinated first, with some
prioritizing health care workers and others vulnerable groups, such as the
elderly or people with health conditions.
In some
countries, politicians will be among the first to get a jab: Greek Prime
Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will be vaccinated on Sunday, according to
Kathimerini. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis originally was going to be near
the front of the queue but changed his mind because advisers thought it would look
like he’s skipping the line.
Countries
have not always been happy, though. This past month, Hungary, Poland, Germany
and Italy pushed the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Commission to
hurry up and approve the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine as the U.K. and U.S. were
already vaccinating the public. Even though the EMA did move up the date to
make a decision on the vaccine, Switzerland and Serbia became the first in
continental Europe to vaccinate — on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.
Others,
largely MEPs but also civil society groups and the French government, have
pushed for greater transparency of the vaccine deals, which have been almost
entirely secret beyond the number of doses the Commission signed up to buy. The
Commission held firm even after a Belgian politician accidentally tweeted out
the prices of each vaccine dose.
Countries
have not always played by the rules, either. Hungary threatened to use vaccines
made by Russia and China, despite the Commission’s warnings. Germany also
secured extra doses of three other vaccines, including those made by
BioNTech/Pfizer, CureVac and IDT Biologika, the latter of which has not agreed
to a deal with the EU. Denmark followed suit this week by purchasing another
2.6 million doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine.
Still, von
der Leyen is counting Sunday as a win. On Thursday, she tweeted that she had
been moved to see the first coronavirus vaccines shipped out across the bloc
"at the same time."
"Together,"
she wrote, "we will overcome the pandemic."
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