The European Commissioner of Health Stella Kyriakides said this Sunday, December 27, that the start of coordinated vaccination in the Member States is "an important moment of solidarity of the European Union" (EU) so that it can "put a lasting end to the pandemic , together and united».
"Justice and equal access have always been essential and seeing vaccination start in all Member States, whether small or large, is an important moment of EU solidarity," said the commissioner, in a note sent to the media.
"The EU went through this pandemic in unity and now we are also starting the process to bring a lasting end to the pandemic, together and united," he added.
Vaccination against covid-19 kicked off this Sunday in the EU, six months after the European Commission presented its immunization strategy, however, plans for a coordinated campaign with all member states ended up being defrauded by Hungary , Germany and Slovakia, which started a day earlier.
"Today is an emotionally charged day for all of us: six months after presenting the covid-19 vaccine strategy for the EU, we have delivered on our promise to guarantee vaccines for all Member States at the same time," said Stella Kyriakides.
The official stressed, however, that it is not possible to "lower one's guard" until a significant number of people are vaccinated.
"We have to continue to keep ourselves and the people around us as safe as possible," he warned, adding that despite this, "we can start 2021 with optimism: there is light at the end of the tunnel."
The first batch of vaccines against covid-19 arrived in Portugal on Saturday. Escorted by security forces, the refrigerated vehicle that transported Pfizer's vaccines, two boxes with a total weight of 41 kilograms, entered the perimeter of the storage unit in the district of Coimbra at around 9:45 am.
Like other European Union countries, in Portugal the vaccine is optional, free and universal, being provided by the NHS.
On Monday, the European Commission authorized the placing on the market of the vaccine against covid-19 developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, hours after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) gave its favorable scientific opinion.
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