After relaxing its “zero-Covid” policy, the EU stated on Tuesday that it is prepared to send Covid vaccinations to China as that country deals with a rise in coronavirus infections.
Vaccines and Covid expertise were offered to Beijing months ago, according to a spokeswoman for the European Commission, Dana Spinant, and “the offer stands.”
Stella Kyriakides, the EU’s commissioner for health, “has reached out and made that offer (of vaccines) to the Chinese authorities,” said a commission spokesman, Tim McPhie.
Any vaccination supply, he claimed, would depend on Beijing’s response.
Following test requirements set by various member states, notably France, Italy, and Spain, the EU is considering a coordinated response for travelers arriving from China.
The BioNTech/Pfizer mRNA vaccine in particular, which has been proved in scientific trials to be more effective against severe Covid than the inactivated-virus vaccinations China has created and used, is in excess in many EU countries.
European Union nations are likewise concerned about China’s incomplete and unreliable data on Covid infections.
The World Health Organization’s data, which the EU depends on, reveals that China hasn’t released any new Covid figures in almost a week.
Since December, China has only reported 22 Covid deaths, and the criteria for identifying such deaths have been drastically reduced. As a result, Beijing’s own data regarding the unprecedented surge are now widely believed to be inaccurate.
When questioned about a Financial Times article claiming that the EU offered to give China the Covid shots for free, McPhie responded that he lacked “particular data on what format it could finally take.”
Officials from the EU’s health ministry met to discuss the problem on Tuesday, and another urgent meeting was scheduled for Wednesday.
China has grumbled against the tighter restrictions placed on travelers leaving its territory for some EU nations, the US, and Japan.
