EU prepares for next pandemic phase
Coronavirus protective equipment
(BRUSSELS) - Action must be taken by autumn to ensure vigilance and coordination of health preparedness, the Commission said Thursday as it set out proposals to manage the current COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for the next one.
The EU executive says the EU has so far saved hundreds of thousands of lives thanks to COVID-19 vaccines, kept its single market operational, minimised travel restrictions and mobilised manufacturing capacity of critical products when supply chains were disrupted.
With current lower levels of COVID-19 infection, the Member States now have the opportunity to strengthen their surveillance, healthcare systems, and overall pandemic preparedness, says the Commission. In particular, it invites Member States to:
- Step up vaccination and boosting, taking into account the simultaneous circulation of COVID-19 and seasonal influenza;
- Set up integrated surveillance systems that are no longer based on the identification and reporting of all COVID-19 cases, but rather on obtaining reliable and representative estimates;
- Continue targeted testing and sequencing of sufficient samples to accurately estimate variant circulation and detect new variants;
- Invest in the recovery of healthcare systems and assess the wider health impacts of the pandemic, including on mental health and delays in treatments and care;
- Apply EU coordinated rules to ensure free and safe travel, both within the EU and with international partners;
- Support the development of the next generation of vaccines and therapeutics;
- Intensify collaboration against mis- and disinformation on COVID-19 vaccines;
- Continue to deploy global solidarity and improve global governance.
In addition, the Commission is announcing actions to ensure resilient supply chains throughout the pandemic, both for medical countermeasures and for critical products across all industrial ecosystems. It is also launching today a tender, under the EU FAB initiative, to reserve capacities for manufacturing mRNA, protein and vector-based vaccines. This will reserve newly created manufacturing capacity for use in future health emergencies. The tender is addressed to vaccine producers with facilities in the EU/EEA, who can send in their request to participate until 3 June 2022 16.00 CEST.
Medium and long term include the further enhancing of pandemic preparedness and strengthening response coordination between Member States, as well as at the global level, implementing the European Health Union proposals, tackling wider health impacts of the pandemic, including "long COVID" and the burden on mental health, and speeding up digitalisation in health.
Communication on COVID-19 sustaining EU preparedness and response
Factsheet: COVID-19 – Sustaining EU Preparedness and Response: Looking ahead