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Ursula von der Leyen accuses UK of compromising on vaccine safety
![Ursula von der Leyen accuses UK of compromising on vaccine safety]()
European commission chief defends record, saying EU’s slower approval process was ‘right decision’ Ursula von der Leyen accuses UK of compromising on vaccine safety
European commission chief defends record, saying EU’s slower approval process was ‘right decision’
The vaccination programme in the UK has enjoyed a head start through compromising on “safety and efficacy” safeguards, the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has claimed.
The former German defence minister, who took command of the EU’s executive branch in 2019, said she had a responsibility to take time to ensure the success of the bloc’s mass vaccination programme.
In the face of heavy criticism, including from her predecessor, Jean-Claude Juncker, Von der Leyen said she was committed to her role and should be judged at the end of her term in 2024.
“Some countries started to vaccinate a little before Europe, it is true,” she said, asked about the UK. “But they resorted to emergency, 24-hour marketing authorisation procedures.
“The commission and the member states agreed not to compromise with the safety and efficacy requirements linked to the authorisation of a vaccine. Time had to be taken to analyse the data, which, even minimised, takes three to four weeks.
“So, yes, Europe left it later, but it was the right decision. I remind you that a vaccine is the injection of an active biological substance into a healthy body. We are talking about mass vaccination here, it is a gigantic responsibility.”
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) gave the go-ahead for the vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech on 2 December and Oxford/AstraZeneca on 30 December through a temporary, emergency approval of specific batches, an approach also available to EU member states.
The 27 EU governments decided, however, to seek authorisation together through the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which is unable to take the fast-track option. The Pfizer vaccine was approved on 21 December and AstraZeneca received approval last Friday.
Amid criticism at the time of the approval, the MHRA had said it had “rigorously assessed the data in the shortest time possible, without compromising the thoroughness of our review”.
The commission has been criticised over a shortage of vaccine supplies with just 2.84% of the EU’s adult population having received a jab against 14.41% in the UK as of Tuesday.
