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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.

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Health is priority / 40,000 spectators at Wembley stadium irresponsible

In an open letter, the MEP and health spokesperson of the largest political group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats) Dr med Peter Liese, addressed the UEFA President to urgently point out the dangers resulting from the Corona situation and especially the Delta variant with regard to the further course of the Euro2020 football championship.

"The health situation, especially in Great Britain, is very dangerous again. The Delta variant, which is much more dangerous, is spreading fast. Our health is priority. The spread of the delta variant makes it impossible for 40,000 spectators to view the final match in London’s stadium. A stricter hygiene concept is urgently needed. Perhaps a relocation is even unavoidable," said Liese.

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Historic agreement / 2030 target very ambitious / Europe will have to not only double but more than triple its climate protection efforts / It's a pity that not only the right and the left, but also the Greens vote against the law

On Thursday, the European Parliament voted by a large majority in favour of the first European climate law. This makes the climate target of 55% net by 2030 legally binding. As the first continent, Europe gives a legal commitment to climate neutrality in 2050.

Commenting on the outcome of the vote, the environmental spokesman of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats) Dr. Peter Liese said: "Climate protection is probably the most important task of our generation of politicians. If we do not act vigorously, our children and grandchildren will not be able to get a grip on climate change anymore. We must therefore massively step up our efforts. The adopted target, especially for 2030, is extremely ambitious. Between 1990 and 2020, the EU cut greenhouse gases by 25%; now we have to cut them by 30% in just 9 years. That means not only doubling our efforts, but more than tripling them," Liese said.

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Very good results / Because of its rather traditional process, the vaccine can help to convince vaccination sceptics and ensure high vaccination rate in autumn / Unfortunately, serious difficulties in production and therefore no short-term help


"These are very encouraging results. I believe that the vaccine, because of its rather traditional process, can help to convince sceptics and ensure a high vaccination rate in the European Union in autumn," commented the health policy spokesman of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP/Christian Democrats), Peter Liese, MD, on the publication of the results of the phase III trial of the vaccine manufacturer Novavax.

“Novavax is an American manufacturer but is also setting up production capacities in the European Union, for example in Halle/Westphalia (Germany), in Prague (Czech Republic) and in Uppsala (Sweden). The vaccine is based on rather traditional processes. It is neither an mRNA nor a vector vaccine, but a vaccine that contains only the protein of the coronavirus and thus produces a vaccine response through long-term tried and tested technologies. This may be helpful in case many people do not get vaccinated in the next few months because they are sceptical about mRNA or vector vaccines. According to the company, Novavax has an efficiency of 90% and even a protection of 100% against moderate and severe disease progression. The vaccine also works well against all new variants and was generally well tolerated," said Liese.

  1. Communication of the European Commission on lessons learned in the Covid-19-pandemic
  2. European Medicines Agency recommends BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine for adolescents
  3. I am convinced that EMA will approve the Covid-19 vaccine of BioNTech for 12- to 15-year-olds
  4. Concrete results instead of theoretical debates