EU vaccine troubles could have been partially prevented 10 years ago
1 April 2021
The challenges of the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out in Europe could have been prevented in part by building a stronger EU system for centralized vaccine purchases after the Swine Flu outbreak, argues Anniek de Ruijter, Director of the Law Centre for Health and Life. If the EU is to be better prepared for a major health emergency, it needs to take collective action before the crisis strikes.
After the Swine flu outbreak, the EU’s attempt to gain more power and capacity to jointly procure vaccines in cases of health emergencies was dashed by the Member States. This means that the EU was ill-prepared when the COVID-19 pandemic hit Europe: the EU lacked legislation, funding, and systems to handle large-scale vaccine procurement.
This letter was published in the Lancet Regional Health – Europe.