“Continuous work with European Union leaders has resulted in an agreement to respect the principle of solidarity in Q2, in relation to the redistribution of doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to be supplied - more doses of vaccine have to be delivered to those Member States that have so far received fewer vaccines,” Kariņš said in a statement.
Vaccination rates were among the most discussed topics at Thursday's remote meeting of European Union national leaders. At the summit, Kariņš invited colleagues from other countries to agree to redistribute an additional 10 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to fill the shortage in Latvia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia.
Kariņš reiterated that, in view of the European single market, it is essential that all countries achieve a similar level of vaccination at the same time.
Neatlaidīgs darbs ar ?? līderiem ir rezultējies ar vienošanos par solidaritātes principa ievērošanu papildu #PfizerBiontech vakcīnas devu pārdalē - vairāk tām valstīm, kas līdz šim saņēmušas mazāk. Tagad atbildīgajām amatpersonām #VM un pārstāvniecību līmenī tas jāīsteno. pic.twitter.com/NdDzFmGTAM
— Krišjānis Kariņš (@krisjaniskarins) March 25, 2021
However, it was widely reported in international media that many differences in opinion were expressed among member states on whether export bans should be used as a means of ensuring vaccines produced in the EU are distributed in the EU as a priority with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen quoting figures that said around half of EU vaccine production has so far been exported even while the EU's vaccination drive lags behind some other countries.
