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Brussels (dpa) - After strong criticism of the vaccine shortage in Europe, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen takes the initiative in the fight against the dreaded variants of the corona virus.
The aim is to have adapted vaccines against the mutated viruses available in large quantities as quickly as possible.
Von der Leyen wants to present the plan in Brussels today.
According to information from the German Press Agency, it essentially comprises five points: the rapid discovery of the mutated viruses through genome sequencing, the rapid adaptation of the corona vaccines to the mutants, the establishment of a European network for clinical tests, the accelerated approval of the adapted Vaccines as well as shortened approval procedures for new or converted vaccine factories and support for the rapid expansion of production.
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For the program called "Hera Incubator", the commission wants to make 150 million euros for researching the virus variants, according to dpa information.
A further 75 million euros are intended to help expand genome sequencing in EU countries so that at least 5 percent of positive corona tests can be examined more precisely for mutants.
The network for clinical tests of vaccines - called Vaccelerate - is also to be financially supported by the EU.
The purpose is to accelerate the testing of vaccines against mutated coronaviruses on volunteers.
To this end, science, industry and authorities should network across the EU.
The EU drug agency EMA should also participate.
In the long term, a new authority called Hera (Health Emergency Response Authority) is to arm the EU against so-called biological dangers.
The program is a kind of preliminary stage - incubator is called incubator in German.
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Von der Leyen was particularly sharply criticized in Germany because the EU Commission is responsible for purchasing corona vaccines and funds are currently scarce everywhere in the EU.
The head of the Commission has already admitted failures: the EU was late in approving the vaccine, too optimistic about mass production and too sure that manufacturers would deliver on time.
Lessons should now be drawn from the mistakes for the next stage.
With the vaccine, things could ease a little in a few weeks.
On Tuesday, the EU medicines authority EMA announced that the manufacturer Johnson & Johnson had also applied for European approval for its corona vaccine.
A decision on the application is to be made by mid-March.
The EU Commission has ordered quantities of the vaccine for at least 200 million people.
The special thing is that it will probably only have to be injected once.
In addition to the vaccination dispute, there is now another conflict between Brussels and Berlin over the border controls imposed by Germany, which are intended to curb the spread of mutated corona viruses.
The Commission criticizes this because it restricts the guaranteed freedom of movement and the movement of goods in the internal market.
In particular, Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) has banned the objections from Brussels in a sharp tone.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210217-99-472140 / 2