EU commissioner for internal market and consumer protection, industry, research and energy Thierry Breton speaks during a press conference following a college meeting to introduce draft legislation on a common EU COVID-19 vaccination certificate at the EU
Vaccine doses are coming and the European Union doesn’t need Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, says the bloc’s Mr Vaccine.
Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner in charge of fixing the EU’s vaccine rollout, insisted that Russians were "struggling to get their hands” on the vaccine and that the challenge was to produce and deliver the shots.
He was speaking in an interview on French TV after the German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country could use Sputnik V if need be.
Breton said Europe could provide one or two plants to Russia to help produce the Sputnik vaccine.
Turning to the camera, he assured viewers: "The vaccine doses are coming.” The French Commissioner said 100 million doses would be delivered in April and that by July 14 -- France’s Bastille Day -- the European continent could reach full immunity.
Most European countries have resumed AstraZeneca immunizations Friday after a suspension to assess potential side effects, in a major setback for a vaccination campaign that’s key to tackle the coronavirus.
Asked about the European Union’s comparatively slow vaccine rollout, Breton insisted that Covid-related death rates were higher in the U.K. and in the U.S., which President Joe Biden said just met a goal of having 100 million Americans inoculated.
55 plants in Europe are working day and night and as many as 150 million doses are produced in Europe each month, said Breton, who says he calls the CEO of AstraZeneca Plc every day to check on production. The company is being criticized by European leaders for delays in the vaccination campaign and for prioritizing the U.K. over Europe in deliveries.
