Xinhua News Agency, Lisbon, May 8 (Reporter Wen Xinnian Zhao Danliang) The two-day EU Social Summit concluded on the 8th in the northern Portuguese city of Porto. EU leaders reached an agreement on the suspension of intellectual property rights exemptions for the new crown vaccine.
European Commission President Von der Lein said at a press conference that EU leaders believe that the issue of intellectual property rights exemptions for the new crown vaccine is not a top priority, and EU countries are facing many more pressing issues.
Europe needs to speed up vaccine production, increase vaccine production, and ensure that vaccine distribution is fair and reasonable.
Although the issue of vaccine intellectual property rights exemption is important, it is not an issue to be discussed in the short and medium term. It must be discussed in the long term.
She said that currently about 160 million people in the EU have received the first dose of the vaccine, accounting for 25% of the EU's total population.
The EU is stepping up production of vaccines to ensure that the number of vaccinations in July this year will reach 70% of the EU's adult population.
Von Delane announced that the European Union has signed a new vaccine procurement contract with Pfizer, which will receive 1.8 billion doses of vaccine by 2023.
The main leaders of the European Council, the European Parliament, and the European Commission and leaders of 24 member states attended the summit. German Chancellor Merkel and other leaders of three countries attended the summit online.
French President Macron, Italian Prime Minister Draghi, and Portuguese Prime Minister Costa all expressed their support for the suspension of vaccine intellectual property rights exemptions during the summit.