PACE President Rik Daems has appealed to European governments to move towards a common vaccination programme during the arbitrations on the recovery fund of 750 billion euros in the context of the pandemic crisis in Europe.
“Such a recovery plan must include a joint vaccination program, coordinated by European governments and with clear funding. We will only defeat the virus when there is a vaccine that can be administered as part of an appropriate and duly funded action plan. Otherwise, there is a risk of money being thrown out the window. ”
Last week, Rik Daems met with the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who expressed his concern about the complacency of governments faced with the pandemic and the urgent need for European states to have a coordinated vaccination plan.
“In close cooperation with the European branch of the WHO, it is necessary to establish a vaccination plan for the period 2020-2025 on purely scientific bases, leaving aside internal quarrels and sterile political debates,” underlined Mr. Daems.
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In the absence of an available vaccine, “we must do everything to avoid a second containment. The compulsory wearing of a mask in public spaces is an essential element in this process, as is the tracking and trace application. And even if such a device is likely to invade privacy and must therefore be closely monitored, it is the principle of trust which must take precedence both in the use of the application and in the processing of data ,” he added.
In order to be effective, “it is essential that such a tracing application has sufficient support within the population while awaiting a vaccine. The Council of Europe quality label offers an excellent opportunity to strengthen this support and therefore the success of the application, so that we can really to prevent new outbreaks of the virus,” concluded the President.
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