The European Commission has been negotiating intensely to build a diversified portfolio of vaccines for EU citizens at fair prices. Contracts have been concluded with 8 promising vaccine developers, securing a portfolio of up to 4.2 billion doses.
Deliveries of vaccine doses to European Union countries have increased steadily since December 2020. Vaccination has gathered pace across the European Union.
By mid-December 2021, 78.4% of the EU’s adult population was fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, the Commission has negotiated two additional contracts with pharmaceutical companies to secure more COVID-19 vaccines – for young people, for the EU’s international partners, for booster shots and to guard against new variants.
Effective and broad vaccination is the best strategy to overcome the pandemic. Based
on current evidence, all vaccines authorised in the EU are highly protective against hospitalisation, severe disease and death, with an effectiveness in the general population of over 80%.
There is a clear link between the level of vaccination and hospitalisation and death rates: the higher the vaccination rate, the lower the risk of being hospitalised or dying.
Increasing vaccination rates of all eligible groups, particularly of the elderly, the vulnerable and healthcare workers across the EU, therefore remains the first priority to control the spread of COVID-19.
Evidence shows booster doses offer a significant increase in protection against infection and severe diseases. The ECDC therefore recommends a booster for adults, prioritising those over 40, at least 6 months after primary vaccination.
To secure enough doses, the Commission has also worked closely with the industry to step up vaccine manufacturing capacity in the EU. By the end of 2021, manufacturing capacity in Europe is expected to reach 300 million doses per month.
At the same time, the Commission has started work to anticipate and tackle new variants of the virus and to rapidly develop and produce vaccines effective against those variants on a large-scale.
This is why the European Commission has launched
HERA, the European Health Emergency preparedness and Response Authority. HERA will anticipate threats and potential health crises, through intelligence gathering and building the necessary response capacities to enable rapid response to health emergencies.