by Philip Blenkinsop
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe and Africa will work together to resolve their dispute over how to ensure fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments by spring, the president of the Commission said on Friday. European Commission.
“We share the same goal. We have different ways to achieve this goal. There must be a bridge between these two paths,” said Ursula von der Leyen at a press conference for the closing of the European Union summit. -African Union in Brussels.
The leaders had a “very fruitful, intense and constructive” discussion on the issue, according to Ursula von der Leyen, who added that the European Commission and that of the African Union would work hand in hand.
“We will organize a college-to-college meeting here in Brussels in the spring. And then, at the latest, we will have to come up with a solution,” she added.
Only 11% of Africans were fully vaccinated at the start of February, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Its goal, set for mid-2022, is to vaccinate 70% of the population of countries on the continent, which would allow them to approach the vaccination rate of Europe and other developed regions.
Many developing countries are calling for a removal of patents for COVID vaccines and treatments. The EU believes that existing rules allowing countries to license local companies stimulate production more efficiently.
WHO also announced at the summit that six African countries – South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia – had become the first on the continent to receive the technology needed to produce messenger RNA vaccines.
(French version Elena Vardon, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
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