​Tuppurainen for achieving global vaccination coverage

Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering Tytti Tuppurainen on Monday emphasised the need to achieve global vaccination coverage in order to truly overcome the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking at an informal video conference of the ministers for European Affairs, she said with this goal in mind, the international COVAX Facility should be utilised effectively.

The COVAX Facility aims to guarantee fair and speedy access to COVID-19 vaccines for every country in the world and to accelerate the development, manufacturing, and delivery of the vaccines.

The main topics on the agenda of the conference were EU coordination in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and preparations for the video meeting of European Council members on 21 January.

The ministers exchanged views on how to improve the efficiency of EU coordination in dealing with COVID-19 and, in particular, how to increase the availability of COVID-19 vaccines and ramp up their distribution.

“The availability and efficient distribution of vaccines play a key role in thwarting COVID-19. The EU’s procurement cooperation got off to a good start, but we need to step up our efforts. It is also important to remember that no country is safe until the pandemic is under control around the world. We therefore need to show solidarity with regard to vaccines. This is also in line with our common European values,” said Tuppurainen.

“In order to be able to monitor the vaccination situation in the best possible way, we need to have uniform statistics on vaccine coverage. We also need to establish a joint vaccine certificate, because our ultimate goal is to open up societies and secure the freedom of movement that is so important to us all,” she added.