"Without a vaccine, contact with older people should be limited as much as possible," said European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen in an interview with the German daily newspaper "Bild", warning that it is necessary to respect the confinement. "I know that it is difficult and that isolation weighs but it is a matter of life and death," she said.

Contacts of the elderly with their environment in Europe will have to remain limited until at least the end of the year because of the coronavirus epidemic, warned the President of the European Commission. "Without a vaccine, contact with the elderly must be limited as much as possible," especially those living in retirement homes, said Ursula von der Leyen in the German daily newspaper Bild, which appeared on Sunday.

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A vaccine hoped for by the end of the year

"I know that it is difficult and that isolation weighs but it is a matter of life and death, we must remain disciplined and patient," she said. "Children and young people will enjoy more freedom of movement sooner than older people and those with a medical history," said the German executive director.

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Ursula von der Leyen says "hope" the development of a vaccine by a European laboratory "towards the end of the year". "So that we can then quickly vaccinate we are already in discussions with manufacturers on global production capacities," she explains.