Resolution of the European Committee of the Regions on the COVID-19 pandemic vaccination campaign

(2021/C 106/01)

THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS (CoR)

1. supports the EU’s vaccine strategy as an expression of solidarity, unity and efficiency, and as a process based on the principles of equal access to vaccines for all EU citizens, affordability and safety; rejects vaccine ‘nationalism’, which runs counter to these principles;

2. welcomes the breakthrough in scientific research and innovation that has brought safe and effective vaccines in record time, thanks to global collaboration; considers vaccination to be a game-changer that will enable us to begin to emerge from the worst of the pandemic and its dramatic effects on social and economic life and mental health in the EU. However, vaccination alone is not sufficient and numbers of infections have to decrease rapidly before the arrival of new variants, for which the current vaccines’ effectiveness is not yet proven;

3. insists that the process of approving and negotiating access to COVID-19 vaccines must be transparent and hopes that ongoing and subsequent purchases of vaccine doses continue to be well coordinated and communicated at EU level; encourages the Member States to avoid dealing with the vaccines in the same way they dealt with the beginning of the pandemic, when some of them displayed a lack of solidarity, leading to shortages of protective equipment, masks and ventilators;

4. supports the vaccination campaigns of the EU, the World Health Organization and the Member States, and calls for vaccine production and delivery to be increased, for vaccination to be sped up and for more information to be provided so that EU citizens can receive a vaccination appointment as soon as possible following a simple and streamlined procedure and irrespective of their geographical location;

5. notes with concern the persistence of the COVID-19 virus and the difficulties encountered globally and in Europe in bringing the pandemic under control and exiting the cycle of restrictive measures; is also concerned by current vaccine production and roll-out across the EU, as some vaccine producers are having significantly reduced deliveries and thereby forcing national authorities to revise their plans for vaccine distribution; therefore deems it essential for the EU institutions to take appropriate measures to ensure that producers comply with their contracts;

6. stresses that many local and regional authorities have competence in health matters and are ready to support vaccine deployment — in particular in terms of logistics — and participate in campaigns and outreach activities to increase citizens’ confidence and take-up and to accelerate the vaccination process; therefore urges the Member States to actively involve local and regional authorities in their campaigns and in the rapid implementation of their vaccine strategies;

7. is concerned that, with 70 % of the population needing to be vaccinated for the pandemic to end, less than half of the European population is willing to be vaccinated in 2021, nearly one third of the population in seven Member States is opposed to being vaccinated at all, and nearly two thirds of Europeans believe the vaccines have been produced too quickly ( 1 )

8. believes that it is vital to reassure the public that the technology used is safe and that the swift production is due to the above-average level of financial and human resources dedicated to developing the vaccines, and thinks that subnational leaders are ideally placed to help convey this message of reassurance;

9. warns against the effects of fake news and disinformation, which could hamper the prospects of prompt mass vaccination, and calls for greater awareness of the possibility of vaccination campaign scams; believes that involving local and regional authorities could significantly contribute to countering disinformation and uncertainty surrounding vaccination;

10. calls for a European dashboard to allow vaccine uptake and distribution to be monitored by region, thus improving transparency and coordination and helping to identify any gaps; believes that the public should be fully informed about authorisations, availability and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines;

11. offers the help of the European Committee of the Regions and its members to the European Commission and the Member States in supporting vaccination campaigns through the exchange of best practices and dissemination of information;

12. supports the Council’s intention to create a standardised and interoperable form of proof of vaccination for medical purposes, considering that documentation of vaccination is a medical necessity;

13. insists that the EU play a leading role in facilitating access to vaccines across the world;

14. calls for the responses of the European Union, the Member States, and regions and municipalities to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic to be thoroughly evaluated and appropriate conclusions to be drawn in terms of medicine, the economy, society, administration and competences.

Brussels, 5 February 2021. The President of the European Committee of the Regions Apostolos TZITZIKOSTAS

(1) European Commission (DG COMM.A3) survey: ‘Public Opinion on COVID-19 Vaccination in the EU’, December 2020.