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Denmark prepared to purchase Israeli COVID-19 vaccines
Christian Wenande
March 1st, 2021
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This article is more than 3 years old.
PM Mette Frederiksen is concerned about whether the EU vaccine rollout will be efficient enough
Denmark proved on Friday that it was capable of vaccinating enough people in one day to reach its goal of protecting 2 million people aged 16-65 by June 27.
Now the government is working to ensure it will have enough doses at hand to follow through.
And according to PM Mette Frederiksen, that may require looking outside the EU.
Later this week, Frederiksen will travel to Israel with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz to look into potentially acquiring excess vaccines from outside the EU.
“We need to significantly increase our vaccine production, and one co-operation partner I believe in a lot is Israel,” Frederiksen told TV2 News.
READ ALSO: All systems go: Denmark’s vaccination program passes Big Friday with flying colours!
Better to be prepared
The PM said that Denmark would be interested in buying excess vaccines from any country, as long as the vaccine is approved by the European Medicines Agency.
A number of vaccine producers have been unable to fulfill their deliveries to the EU recently, prompting some EU countries to seek alternative avenues.
The Czech Republic, for instance, could turn to the Russian-produced Sputnik vaccine without the EU’s approval.
Frederiksen wouldn’t rule out Denmark producing its own vaccine down the road.
“We may end up in a position where we not only need to vaccinate, but also revaccinate and produce a new vaccine every year. And who knows, maybe more often that that,” she said.
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