Members of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) and the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) have a joint hearing on "How to increase the capacity of COVID 19 vaccine production and improve delivery". Exchange of views with CEOs of the pharmaceutical industry on COVID 19 (Corona) vaccine production and delivery. Welcome and opening remarks by Pascal CANFIN (Renew,FR), ENVI Chair, Cristian-Silviu BUŞOI (EPP,RO), ITRE Chair, Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety.

Brussels

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

exchange of views

Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

hearing

joint hearing

healthcare safety (T)

BUŞOI, Cristian-Silviu (EPP, RO)

CANFIN, Pascal (Renew, FR)

KYRIAKIDES, Stella (CY, EC)

Coronavirus outbreak (T)

vaccination strategy (T)

Joint hearing of the ENVI and ITRE Committee "How to increase the capacity of COVID 19 vaccine production and improve delivery": Welcome and opening remarks

SOUNDBITE (French), Pascal CANFIN (Renew, FR), <p>Today we are gathered for a world premiere. This world first is the public hearing between the bosses of the laboratories that produce the Covid 19 vaccine and representatives of the citizens we are. And I am very proud that this world premiere is taking place here in the European Parliament. For the first time we have also brought together the seven laboratories that produce vaccines or have signed contracts with us to produce vaccines, hopefully soon, which will be authorised in the European Union.</p>

SOUNDBITE (French), Pascal CANFIN (Renew, FR), And by opening this audition. I am thinking of the 538,000 Europeans who have died since the beginning of the crisis almost a year ago, and I am opening this event here in the European Parliament, being aware of our dual responsibility as parliamentarians. The first responsibility is to find with you, the CEOs of pharmaceutical companies, the solutions to win the battle of massive vaccine production. 

<p>SOUNDBITE (French), Pascal CANFIN (Renew, FR), We won the battle of research. Now we have to win the battle of mass production. But I am also aware of our second responsibility, which is to remind you of the legitimate demands of the 430 million Europeans who demand that you comply with the terms of the contracts you have signed.</p>

SOUNDBITE (French), Pascal CANFIN (Renew, FR), And to conclude this introduction, I would like to recall very quickly the dual strategy that the European Parliament has been pursuing for almost a year now. Support for a European negotiating framework. Because nothing would be worse, nothing would have been worse than having 27 competing national frameworks, but also the requirement for transparency at all levels. Because transparency is the respect for trust and it is the guarantee of the success of this vaccine battle. 

SOUNDBITE (French), Pascal CANFIN (Renew, FR), And I wanted to thank the four CEOs, especially the four CEOs who agreed for the first time to answer questions from parliamentarians in public 

SOUNDBITE (English), Cristian-Silviu BUŞOI (EPP, RO), - I'd like to take this opportunity to thank each of the 8 guest speaker for responding positively to our invitation to be here today. We would like to have an open discussion with the high representative of the pharmaceutical industry with the participation and strong involvement of the European Commission on how to overcome any intensified impediments to a speedier commercialisation, manufacturing and distribution of the Covid 19 vaccines.

SOUNDBITE (English), Cristian-Silviu BUŞOI (EPP, RO), - As ITRE Committee, we insist that now the challenge is not only scientific but also industrial. The vaccines are ready soon It was projected by manufacturing. Billion of those years for people across Europe and around the world is an unprecedented challenge. Safety and quality are paramount to vaccines, and in a time of crisis, everything has to be speed out without compromising the quality of the vaccines.

SOUNDBITE (English), Cristian-Silviu BUŞOI (EPP, RO), - EU Institutions in EU member states, where a fair partner of the pharma industry so far during decades already and it will remain for the future. But it is also very important that in such difficult moments, pharma industry should also be a fair partner of European institutions and member states. So, as Pascal Canfin already stated that I would also like to underline that was promised should be delivered. And it is also important to see that the pharma companies are doing all their efforts in order to solve the problems.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, - With you once again today, it has been almost a year since the Covid 19 pandemic began to spread across Europe and in that world. In that time, our world has changed dramatically. We have put the most important parts of our lives, I would say, are human interaction and socialisation the way we work. Meeting with family and friends on the field. And yet I would say that our response has also been the most effective when we engage in the most human of actions, of working in solidarity and collaboration.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, - And it is this collaboration that has ensured that all 27 member states had access to safe and effective vaccines at the same time, and that the same under the same conditions. And as Mr. Canfin has already stressed this has been really the importance of all 27 working together.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, - It is our sense of solidarity that has also has led the EU to double its contribution to the KOVAX facility. Now it amounts to one billion. And I want to to again share with you that yesterday a Kovax distributed the first doses of vaccines to Ghana. And this is an important, I think, moment for for the world., because as we have said many times, no one is safe until everyone is safe.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, - This house has played such a very important part in these efforts for the last year. And I want to take the opportunity once again to thank all the members of of the of these committees and of the parliament. As M. Busoi said, we have seen science delivered as its best, we are seeing more and more people being vaccinated every day. And we are taking decisive action to increase the production, delivery and the rollout of vaccines across the EU.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, - But we are also very aware that we need to vaccinate as quickly as possible. And I am very thankful to Mr Canfin, M. Busoi, for bringing us together today to be able to discuss these efforts. We set him overall targets for member states that they should vaccinate a minimum of 70 percent of their adult population by the summer. It is an ambitious goal, but it is reachable.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, - Predictability around the deliveries are essential for an efficient rollout. And together with the member states, we are really working 24/7 and doing everything we can to ensure that companies deliver on our agreements. Much closer and more strategic, public private cooperation with industry is important, it is needed, and it is in this spirit that the task force has been set top of all four industrial scale up of the Covid 19 vaccines. Working very closely with my colleague, Commissioner Breton.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, - Honourable members. We are all watching the the rapid change of covid-19 and the variants the variants are developing very quickly and we need to be one step ahead in this Covid and then our preparedness and to have the necessary tools to respond. And on the 17th of February, we proposed the new European Bio Defence Preparedness Plan against the Covid 19 variants.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, - The HERA incubator aims to coordinate science and industry and public authorities to detect the new variants. It will. It aims to provide incentives in order to provide and develop new and adapted vaccines, and it will speed up the approval process and the step in to increase manufacturing capacities. What we need to do is step up our diagnostic game to detect on detecting and analysing and assessing of variants.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, - And the HERA Incubator will work on specialised tests for new variants and support genomic sequencing in member states with at least seventy five million euro in EU funding. And we are also stepping up research and data exchange on variants with one hundred and fifty million euro. And this is work that has been ongoing now for several weeks and with the ECDC and of course the member states.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, - Secondly, the plan will be to enable faster regulatory approval of adopted vaccines without and I always stress this compromising on safety or quality or efficacy. And thirdly, and crucially, the action includes dedicated initiatives to increase production of covid-19 vaccines. We stand ready to update or to conclude new advanced purchase agreements and are working very closely with manufacturers to address any bottlenecks in production as they appear.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, - The HERA incubator is about the present, but it's also about the medium and the long term. It is about what we need to be doing in terms of concrete action to increase the capacity of covid-19 vaccine production and to improve delivery. But it is also about the future and it is a blueprint, I would say a precursor of the EU's long term preparedness for health emergencies.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, - Our efforts depend on information sharing, on coordination and cooperation across the EU, between industry, between science and the member states. And we are determined to strengthen even further our cooperation between the commission and the European Parliament, which is why we have proposed to have a contact group on vaccines, which will be coordinated, as you know, by Vice President Schinas.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, - And this will allow the commission and the parliament to discuss the most pressing issues and work together in finding solutions. We are all facing an unprecedented public health crisis, a global pandemic. And the only way we will get out of this is by working closely together. So thank you once again for allowing me to share these initial thoughts with you. And I look forward to hearing your insights. Thank you.