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Reduce the incidence and then open step by step with more vaccination every day
 

"If all stay reasonable and patient for some more weeks now, spring and summer 2021 will be much better than spring and summer 2020,” said the spokesman on health of the biggest parliamentary group (EPP, Christian Democrats), Dr. med. Peter Liese. Liese said that the situation in some of the EU member states is still very problematic and one shouldn’t open up the public life too hasty.

“The developments in Ireland, Portugal and Slovakia show what can happen when we don’t have the virus under control,” said Liese. On the other hand, Liese said that he is very optimistic. “When looking at spring, we will have more and more vaccine every week. If we have vaccinated the elderly and the medical stuff and if the weather allows us to be much more outside, we can afford much more without putting another stress test to our health care systems. But we have to be patient for some weeks.” Liese insisted that the member states need to co-ordinate much more when it comes to incoming flights from areas with a high incidence of coronavirus mutants like South Africa and Brazil. Every traveller from these countries should be under strong quarantine and unnecessary flights should be avoided completely. Unfortunately, also border controls inside the European Union are necessary. In Czech Republic, for example, the incidence is very high. A colleague from Czech Republic who is not from EPP, literally said: ‘Babiš messed it up.’ That’s why it’s understandable that neighbour countries react with strict border controls. In this case, I cannot defend the position of the European Commission,” said the doctor and MEP.

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Measures for primary schools and students in last year of high school must be better than before Christmas / Allow lifting measures for outdoor activities as the next step

"If we lift he measures too quickly and too comprehensively now, we could see a dramatic explosion in the incidence of infections and a total overload of the health system within four to five weeks. That is why targeted openings are the right thing to do, but we must continue to be very cautious," explained the health spokesperson of the largest political group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), Dr med. Peter Liese, referring to the infection situation in other European countries such as Ireland and Portugal.

"Portugal has a total overload of health care system at the moment and therefore it is good that even the German Armed Forces are helping in Portugal. Until a few weeks ago, the infection figures were quite under control (28 December 2020). However, especially during Christmas, the measures were lifted generously: there were no restrictions on how many people per household one was allowed to meet during Christmas and the nighttime curfew was also shortened. This led to an almost eightfold increase (7.85) in the number of infections within four weeks (28.12.2020: 2,093 to 28.01.2021: 16,432). The spread of the B117 virus variant first detected in the UK has obviously played a role, and possibly also the Brazilian variant (also called V3).

In Ireland, there was an even more dramatic development, but those responsible stopped it early enough through targeted measures. In December, Ireland had the virus under control so well that on some days there were no deaths at all. Additionally, the number of infections was well below 50 in a country of 5 million people with a 7-day incidence of about 250 per day. Nevertheless, already in the beginning of December measures were lifted very generously: gyms, cinemas as well as restaurants were opened and even during Christmas, many more contacts were allowed than in for example Germany. This, in combination with the new British virus variant, which of course mainly entered the Republic of Ireland via the open border with Northern Ireland, has obviously led to an almost twenty-fold increase within 26 days (13.12.2020: 429 to 08.01.2021: 8,227).

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Success thanks to hard work and not through complaining / Myth: Europe ordered vaccine too late and spent too little money / Not everything is perfect, but others would have more reason to admit mistakes

"That the BioNTech factory in Marburg is brought to service earlier is a great success and a sign that getting down to business is more important than complaining. In the last few months, those responsible at BioNTech as well as representatives of the regional and national German government and the EU have worked hard to make the commissioning possible. In many discussions with BioNTech and the Hessian government, among others, I have tried to add my part as a small contribution. The factory is close to my heart because it is a game changer for Europe in pandemic control and because I once visited it personally during my student days studying medicine in Marburg. The example shows what needs to be done now: The bringing into service was not achieved by complaining towards the pharmaceutical industry or the political leaders in Germany and EU, but by working hard," said the health spokesperson of the largest political group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), Dr med Peter Liese.

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Instead of apportioning blame, tackle and solve the problem / European Commission and Novavax negotiating contract / both sides praise constructive talks

 
"I understand very well when people are frustrated that vaccination is not happening faster. But what is not okay from my point of view is when EU countries always compare itself with the countries where things are going faster and completely ignore the fact that there are also rich industrialised nations where things are going slower. A good example is Canada, also because the country is suffering just as much as we are. Canada is affected by the rebuilding of the Pfizer plant in Belgium because they don't get the vaccine from the US, because Donald Trump has stipulated that nothing will be exported and Joe Biden has unfortunately not changed it. Canada ordered earlier and more than the EU, but is at 0.4% in the ‘complete’ vaccination rate. The table shows the rate of people who are fully vaccinated, i.e. have also received the second dose. As you can see here, some EU countries like Italy and Germany are little ahead of the UK. The UK, in fact, is pursuing a quite risky vaccination strategy. They initially vaccinate many people only once (also with the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine), although this is not covered by the licence. In the worst case, this can lead to the development of new dangerous mutations. Countries like Canada, Singapore, Switzerland and Turkey are in a much worse position than EU countries. Now I can understand everyone who says it doesn't help me if I look at countries like Canada and Switzerland, I still want to get the vaccine. Unfortunately, it also doesn't help if you only look at and Israel1  or the U.S.2 We all have to get to work now so that Europe can move forward as quickly as possible, but also as safely as possible. This was stated by the MEP and health policy spokesperson of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP-Christian Democrats), Dr. med. Peter Liese in view of the debate on vaccine supply.

  1. Vaccine news: Two very good news / Two moderate news
  2. The virus does not care who is guilty for the shortage of the vaccine
  3. Patience and avoidance of risk contacts needed to keep mutated virus under control in Europe
  4. Peter Liese demands stricter controls on entries from the United Kingdom to the continent
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