The trend is positive. The number of corona infections is falling. That is the important thing from the point of view of the EU heads of state and government. The incidence, i.e. the number of infections detected by tests, has been falling for weeks.
Most EU countries have started a slow return to normal life: shopping, eating, going to the theater, staying in hotels, keeping schools open. All of this with very different rules for tests, times, exit restrictions or mask requirements.
According to the European Disease Protection Authority (ECDC), the incidence of corona infections in large parts of the EU is between 60 and 120. In France, the Baltic States and Sweden it is twice as high. Only the UK, Finland and Portugal and some islands are shown in yellow on the map. That means that the incidence there fluctuates between 30 and 60 per week in 100 inhabitants.
In person, but with a mask: EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (left) with summit guests
–
There is no uniform approach in the EU, but there is a common assessment during the summit. “The speed of vaccinations has increased across Europe, and it should stay that way. Together with a better epidemiological situation, this allows us to reopen our societies. However, we must remain vigilant,” said the joint statement by the 27 heads of government -chefs.
The variety of corona strategies in the EU, which has been criticized from time to time, no longer bother the summit. In 16 months of the pandemic, the heads of state and government have learned that health policy was and remains a national, and in many places, regional issue.
“The numbers point in the right direction, but the states had very different experiences with the pandemic,” Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told DW. You now have to look not only at the sick, but also at people without jobs and the mental consequences of Corona, said Kallas.
Prime Minister Kaja Kallas leads Estonia through the pandemic
–
Certificate should make traveling easier
At the end of their summit, the heads of state stated succinctly that “the attempts at further coordination should be continued until the summer.” What is meant here is the EU-wide “digital COVID certificate”, which was called “green vaccination pass” until last week. This name was deleted because the EU Parliament found the name misleading. With the certificate, travel for vaccinated, convalescent and freshly tested people should be possible from July 1 without further quarantine regulations or entry forms.
The governments of the member states have successfully enforced that there can be numerous exceptions to this principle if they can be scientifically proven epidemiologically. In addition, each state can determine for itself which rights are linked to the EU vaccination pass within its national territory, e.g. entry into a restaurant, bar, concert hall or a visit to a retirement home.
Here, too, there are no uniform rules in the EU. The only thing that is clear is that the EU is getting the technical platform up and running for the mutual recognition of national vaccination certificates. “At our conference table we did not agree with one another what the consequences of being vaccinated would be,” the head of government of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, admitted to DW.
–
Take virus variants into account
In addition, the heads of state and government are in favor of revising the recommendations for travel within the EU in mid-June. This is also about restrictions on areas where variants of the corona virus appear.
“We know that we have to discuss faster here in order to be able to react more quickly,” said Chancellor Angela Merkel. The regulations for entry into the EU from third countries are also to be reviewed. At the moment there are still restrictions in both directions in almost every country in the world.
Lifting restrictions on both everyday life and travel regulations depends crucially on progress in vaccination. The EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tried to present successes in her presentation to the 27 bosses today. By the end of the week, 46 percent of adults in the Union would have been vaccinated at least once. However, there are still major differences within the EU. In Bulgaria only 13.2 percent of adults are vaccinated. In Malta it is already 60 percent.
Chancellor Merkel in Brussels: Stay vigilant with the variants
–
Donations to Covax
The number of vaccination doses delivered is increasing rapidly across the EU. By the end of the year there will be around 2.6 billion doses, not all of which are of course needed for a population of 450 million people. That is why part of it, namely 100 million doses, is to be donated to the worldwide vaccination campaign “Covax”.
“Covax” should be able to buy the remaining excess cans, with donations that come from the richer industrialized countries. This is what the EU Commission and the World Health Organization had planned when Covax was launched around a year ago. The EU continues to pursue the goal of building local production facilities in poorer countries, as the World Health Summit decided last Saturday.
“Covax” also supplies cans from the EU to poorer countries, here North Macedonia
–
The heads of state and government do not mention the temporary suspension of patents on vaccines or manufacturing processes suggested by the USA in their statement. Such a step is particularly opposed by France, the Netherlands and Germany. Above all, it is about the rapid expansion of production facilities, not about giving up intellectual property.
A serious setback for the global vaccination campaign is the temporary failure of the Indian “Serum Institute” to supply the Covax initiative. According to the will of the Indian government, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer is only to produce for the time being for the huge demand in India. How the hundreds of millions of doses earmarked for Covax could be replaced is unclear.
– .
