Initial difficulties very frustrating but right strategy in the long-run / Vaccination skeptics have to be convinced by careful procedures and factual information


"EU states are starting to overtake the US with their vaccination campaign," informed MEP Peter Liese, MD, referring to figures from Our World in Data. As of Thursday, 53.4% of the population in Italy has been vaccinated at least once, while the United States have stagnated between 50% and 53% since late May. The EU average is 48.2%, and EU countries are significantly increasing the number of vaccinated people each day.

"I attribute the stagnation in the U.S. primarily to the vaccination skepticism in large segments of the population. It must be acknowledged without envy that the U.S. invested more in vaccine production and procurement last year than the Europeans, in part because they had their own agency called BARDA.

An important lesson from the pandemic is that we also need such an agency in the EU. The export ban was frustrating. But it shows that large quantities of vaccine do not equal a large quantity of vaccinated people. I am firmly convinced that the conditional marketing authorisation, which provides for greater safety and, among other things, corporate liability, will ultimately be to the EU's advantage because it will enable us to convince people who have not yet decided to be vaccinated. The good results of the manufacturer Novavax, which bases its vaccine on a traditional method, can also be helpful here. It is important to convince people with factual arguments, but also with the EU certificate, which gives the vaccinated population back their basic rights," explained the health policy spokesman of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats) Dr. Peter Liese.