VIENNA, (Pakistan Point News - 03rd Mar, 2021) Austria and Denmark have joined forces with Israel to produce second-generation vaccines against mutations of the coronavirus, due to the slow rollout of COVID-19 vaccines within the European Union, according to Reuters.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said it was right that the EU procures vaccines for its member states but the European Medicines Agency (EMA) had been too slow to approve them and lambasted pharmaceutical companies’ supply bottlenecks.
"We must therefore prepare for further mutations and should no longer be dependent only on the EU for the production of second-generation vaccines," the chancellor said in a statement on Tuesday.
Danish Prime Minister Danish Mette Frederiksen was also critical of the EU’s vaccine programme.
"I don’t think it can stand alone, because we need to increase capacity. That is why we are now fortunate to start a partnership with Israel," she told reporters on Monday.
Kurz and Frederiksen are due to travel to Israel this week to see Israel’s rapid vaccine roll-out up close, Reuters added.
