• News
    • Latest news
    • News search
    • Health
    • Finance
    • Food
    • Career news
    • Content series
    • Try Devex Pro
  • Jobs
    • Job search
    • Post a job
    • Employer search
    • CV Writing
    • Upcoming career events
    • Try Career Account
  • Funding
    • Funding search
    • Funding news
  • Talent
    • Candidate search
    • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Events
    • Upcoming and past events
    • Partner on an event
  • Post a job
  • About
      • About us
      • Membership
      • Newsletters
      • Advertising partnerships
      • Devex Talent Solutions
      • Contact us
Join DevexSign in
Join DevexSign in

News

  • Latest news
  • News search
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Career news
  • Content series
  • Try Devex Pro

Jobs

  • Job search
  • Post a job
  • Employer search
  • CV Writing
  • Upcoming career events
  • Try Career Account

Funding

  • Funding search
  • Funding news

Talent

  • Candidate search
  • Devex Talent Solutions

Events

  • Upcoming and past events
  • Partner on an event
Post a job

About

  • About us
  • Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising partnerships
  • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Contact us
  • My Devex
  • Update my profile % complete
  • Account & privacy settings
  • My saved jobs
  • Manage newsletters
  • Support
  • Sign out
Latest newsNews searchHealthFinanceFoodCareer newsContent seriesTry Devex Pro
    • News
    • COVID-19

    MEPs probe Europe's global vaccine strategy

    The European Commission is pushing a new "vaccine-sharing mechanism," but the details are vague for now — and some are skeptical that they should be sharing at all.

    By Vince Chadwick // 05 February 2021
    A nurse fills a syringe with a dose of the coronavirus vaccine at a nursing home in Nicosia, Cyprus. Photo by: European Union, 2020

    With the European Commission still under fire for the slow rate of COVID-19 vaccinations at home, its head of development policy told the European Parliament on Thursday that it’s in the bloc’s own interest to help inoculate the rest of the world as well.

    “Developing and distributing vaccines against COVID-19 globally is our exit strategy from the pandemic,” Jutta Urpilainen, commissioner for international partnerships, told members of European Parliament. “We are fully committed to people all over the world having access to a vaccine.”

    The former Finnish finance minister outlined the “parallel tracks” her team has pursued in response to the coronavirus, including rejiggering the remainder of its 2014-2020 development budget and fundraising for vaccine research.

    Urpilainen also highlighted the €850 million contribution from the commission and European Union member states to COVAX, the global initiative set up to ensure equitable access to vaccines, which announced its first detailed forecast Wednesday of when low-income countries can expect to start receiving doses.

    However, there are doubts over whether COVAX will work, with concerns ranging from funding, supply, and regulatory approval to whether countries will be ready to roll out vaccines.

    “Developing and distributing vaccines against COVID-19 globally is our exit strategy from the pandemic.”

    — Jutta Urpilainen, commissioner for international partnerships, European Commission

    “I don’t want to put water in the wine, but COVAX has not really been a success yet,” Hildegard Bentele, a center-right German MEP, told Urpilainen at Thursday’s committee hearing, pointing out that the African Union has begun buying its own vaccines.

    Urpilainen responded that she still saw more cooperation than competition and emphasized that the commission still views COVAX as its “main tool” to support low-income countries.

    “We need to be able to communicate better what this COVAX is doing, how it is functioning, and what we are able to deliver also through that instrument,” Urpilainen said.

    The EU’s 2021-2027 development budget was another chance to scale up local manufacturing and production capacity of vaccines in Africa, Urpilainen said, noting the European Investment Bank is already working on this.

    In recent weeks, the commission has also floated the idea of a new “vaccine-sharing mechanism” to allow EU countries to donate doses to health workers and others in low-income countries.

    Urpilainen said Thursday that the mechanism would take place “hopefully through COVAX,” though details remain scarce. COVAX did not respond to a request for comment Thursday on how the mooted EU mechanism would work. And EU officials admit privately that the politics of asking national governments to send shots abroad while their own citizens are still waiting to be vaccinated can be tricky.

    After the commission took longer to sign contracts with pharmaceutical companies, and with member states handling distribution, EU nations are lagging behind the United Kingdom in the rollout of vaccinations, heaping pressure on commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

    As far-right German MEP Bernhard Zimniok put it to Urpilainen Thursday: “You have failed in Europe, and you are trying to save the rest of the world. Well, wonderful. But let’s start in Europe first, let’s get the vaccines.”

    • Global Health
    • Trade & Policy
    • EIB
    • EC
    Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).

    About the author

    • Vince Chadwick

      Vince Chadwickvchadw

      Vince Chadwick is a contributing reporter at Devex. A law graduate from Melbourne, Australia, he was social affairs reporter for The Age newspaper, before covering breaking news, the arts, and public policy across Europe, including as a reporter and editor at POLITICO Europe. He was long-listed for International Journalist of the Year at the 2023 One World Media Awards.

    Search for articles

    Related Jobs

    • Individual Consultant: Digital Trade Expert
      Phnom Penh, Cambodia | Cambodia | East Asia and Pacific | South Asia
    • Individual Consultant: Public Safety and Drugs
      Vienna, Austria | Austria | Western Europe
    • Assistant Staff Welfare Officer
      Damascus, Syria | Syria | North Africa and Middle East
    • See more

    Most Read

    • 1
      Opinion: Mobile credit, savings, and insurance can drive financial health
    • 2
      FCDO's top development contractors in 2024/25
    • 3
      Strengthening health systems by measuring what really matters
    • 4
      Opinion: India’s bold leadership in turning the tide for TB
    • 5
      How AI-powered citizen science can be a catalyst for the SDGs

    Trending

    Financing for Development Conference

    The Trump Effect

    Newsletters

    Related Stories

    European UnionRevealed: EU aid’s losing internal battle to halt spending cuts

    Revealed: EU aid’s losing internal battle to halt spending cuts

    Devex InvestedDevex Invested: Angela Merkel has some thoughts about investing in Africa

    Devex Invested: Angela Merkel has some thoughts about investing in Africa

    Global HealthRobert F. Kennedy Jr. says the US is cutting funding for Gavi

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says the US is cutting funding for Gavi

    78th World Health AssemblyA new model for funding global health takes shape

    A new model for funding global health takes shape

    • News
    • Jobs
    • Funding
    • Talent
    • Events

    Devex is the media platform for the global development community.

    A social enterprise, we connect and inform over 1.3 million development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities so you can do more good for more people. We invite you to join us.

    • About us
    • Membership
    • Newsletters
    • Advertising partnerships
    • Devex Talent Solutions
    • Post a job
    • Careers at Devex
    • Contact us
    © Copyright 2000 - 2025 Devex|User Agreement|Privacy Statement