site.btaPrime Minister Borissov, Fellow EU Leaders Urge for EU Debate on COVID-19 Vaccine Deliveries

Sofia, March 13 (BTA) - Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov,
 Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, Czech Prime Minister Andrej
 Babis, Latvian Prime Minister Arturs Krisjanis Karins and
Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa have urged for a EU debate
on the deliveries of COVID vaccines, the government information
service said.

The five EU leaders have sent a letter to European Council
President Charles Michel and European Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen in which they underscore the significance
of European solidarity which guarantees that all EU members, big
 and small, will have an equal access to limited resources such
as the COVID-19 vaccines.

They recall the conclusions of January 21 video conference of
the members of the European Council, according to which the
vaccines should be delivered simultaneously and should be
distributed proportionately to the size of the population in the
 EU member countries. If the principle of proportionality isn't
observed this could lead to very big differences between the
countries, with some being capable of reaching herd immunity in
a matter of weeks, while others will fall behind significantly.

According to the signatories of the letter, there should be
guarantees that all EU member countries will be able to reach
the common vaccination benchmarks, set by the European
Commission, for the second quarter of 2020.  The letter also
says that the vaccination rollout us a milestone in the fight
against COVID-19.

The prime ministers of Bulgaria, Czechia, Latvia and Slovenia
and the Austrian Chancellor have express gratitude to Michel and
 Von Der Leyen for their tireless efforts to ensure, improve and
 speed up the deliveries of vaccines for all EU citizens.

Later in the day on Saturday the European Commission defended
its policy of distributing COVID-19 vaccines evenly in the bloc
after Austria and five other member states complained that doses
 were not allocated equally, Reuters reported.

In response to the a joint letter to the Commission and the
European Council by the leaders of six European countries, the EC said
that doses have been distributed in proportion with the
population of each country and taking into account
epidemiological data, adding that was up to member state
governments to decide how to share them.

A flexible policy agreed by EU governments meant countries
facing a more acute phase of the epidemic could access more
doses, if some governments opted for not taking up their pro
rata allocation, the EC said.

"It would be up to the Member States to find an agreement if
they wished to return to the pro rata basis," it said, adding it
backed an allocation method based exclusively on a pro rata of
population of each EU nation. NV/PP, ZH