4 February 2021 the European Union in Vietnam announced the EU remains its obligation to provide Covid-19 Vaccine to all countries, the statement read:
As vaccinations against COVID-19 start being rolled out, new, relevant questions emerge on the equal distribution. For the European Union (EU), the answer is clear: no one is safe until everyone is safe. No region, no country, and no group of people should be at a disadvantage or indeed precluded from having a fair, equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines that are safe to use and provide necessary levels of quality control standards and protection.
Last week, the EU adopted a set of targeted and temporary measures requiring that exports of vaccines outside the EU require a prior authorisation by Member States until the end of March 2021. This means, in practice, European-based pharmaceutical companies must seek authorisation before they export COVID-19 vaccines. But the decision adopted last week explicitly rules out exports to a number of neighbouring countries and to the 92 low- and middle- income countries covered by the COVAX facility, including Vietnam, as the EU remains fully committed to international solidarity and its international obligations.
This is what the EU stands for. We stand for vaccine cooperation instead of vaccine nationalism. We stand for vaccine multilateralism as the only right way ahead.
