Brussels' other great worry is the vaccination campaign, for which it bears responsibility as it negotiated the purchase of dosis centrally. A few weeks ago Pfizer announced that it was slowing down production and that it would be unable to deliver the amount of doses it committed itself to. Last week, AstraZeneca warned it would by unable to meet the targets it agreed with the European Commission. Today, the Commission demanded the agreed targets be met, although it admitted it is not yet considering legal action. Health Comissioner, Stella Kyriakides, sent a letter to the company and EU representatives will meet this afternoon with the company to discuss the situation. Both companies have signed contracts with the EU which have been maintained secret.
Brussels calls for PCR and quarantine to leave regions most affected by covid
It refers to areas with an incidence of over 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, such as most of Spain
BrusselsDon't move if you don't have to. This is the recommendation issued this Monday by the European Commission, in view of the escalation of coronavirus infections caused by the new variants. Last week, the heads of state and government already agreed that freedom of movement within European borders should be restricted, but juggling to try and keep the borders open. In response to this attempt at balance, the Commission (which has no competence in this area) has proposed a common approach: to classify as high-risk areas those with more than 500 infections per 100,000 inhabitants and to require PCR tests and quarantines of up to 14 days for people who have to leave or go to those areas. It is made clear that movement between these areas should only be attempted when strictly necessary. Most Spanish autonomous communities fall within this classification. "It is urgent to reduce infections related to movement," said Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders.
The EU has a common colour map to delimit the risk throughout the territory, to which it proposes to add an even darker red colour for areas with an incidence of more than 500 cases. Once these regions have been defined, it proposes to take extreme measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Countries like Belgium have been taking even stricter measures for a week now. The country has formally banned non-essential travel, which means that a document justifying the reason for the journey must be presented and, in addition, a negative PCR result obtained in the previous 48 hours and a quarantine of up to 10 days is mandatory, which can only be reduced to seven days with a second PCR test.
And, in fact, the European Commission is opposed to this very strict approach, because it does not recommend banning movements, only advising against them and carrying out quarantines and tests. Closer to the Brussels recommendations are the measures taken by Germany or France
The European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) already draws up a regional map specifying areas with an incidence of more than 500 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. According to this map most regions in Spain are considered high-risk areas, including Catalonia
This is a new attempt by the European Commission to try to coordinate the response of European partners to a third wave of the coronavirus that has set off all the alarms. Even so, Brussels is late because several governments have already taken measures that go beyond their recommendations. Now, moreover, the representatives of the 27 will have to discuss and approve them.
