UK has 'lost all confidence in Von Der Leyen' says Kuenssberg
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen acknowledged that the European Union was not where it wanted to be in the fight against the coronavirus. Mrs von der Leyen suggested the bloc had been “too optimistic” about its abilities to manage the mass distribution of the vaccine across the bloc. Addressing MEPs in Brussels, the Commission President said: “We were late with the approval.
“We were too optimistic on mass production. And perhaps we were also too certain that the orders would actually be delivered on time.”
She continued: “It was correct and is correct that we Europeans ordered the vaccine collectively and now share in solidarity.
“I don’t even want to imagine what it would have meant if some big members would have ordered the vaccine and the rest would not have gotten anything.
“What would that have meant for our single market and the unity of Europe.”
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“In economic terms, this would have been nonsense and it would have meant the end of our community.”
Mrs von der Leyen added: “Overall in Europe since December 26, millions of vaccine shots have been delivered.
“More than 17 million people were vaccinated and we will work as hard as anyhow possible to reach our goal, namely that till the end of summer we will have vaccinated 70% of the adult population in Europe.
“It is still a fact that during the fight against the virus we are not where we want to be today. We were late when it came to the approval, we were too optimistic when it came to mass production.
“And maybe we were also too certain that what we ordered would in fact be delivered on time.”
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