Reuters. The European Union and the World Health Organization on Thursday (February 11) said they would spend 40 million euros ($48.48 million) over three years to ensure better access to COVID-19 vaccines in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
“This complements on-going work through COVAX and the EU sharing mechanism, with an initial focus on readiness, information campaigns, supplies and training of health workers. Yesterday, I also signed an agreement with the EU to support the countries of the Western Balkans in their efforts”, said WHO regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge told a virtual news briefing.
As 3,610 people from 40 European countries have lost their live on Tuesday (February 9) due to COVID-19, Kluge urged people to not become compliant.
“It’s a thin line between the hope of a vaccine and a false sense of security”, he said.
So far, 7.8 million people have been vaccinated, “only 1.5% of the population” of 29 out of 37 countries in Europe currently vaccinating, Kluge said.
Over the weekend, the two-dose shot AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, developed with Oxford University has been clouded by doubts as a new study shows it was less effective against a fast-spreading South African variant of the virus.
Kluge said while the variant was “of particular concern”, it has not yet widespread in the region, but needs to be monitor carefully.
