Italian PM Draghi says EU must speed up vaccination campaign

He urged caution with plans to send doses to third countries, saying Europe was too far behind with national campaigns to launch into ambitious distribution programmes beyond its borders, the official reported. Looking to get more people vaccinated as soon as possible, Draghi also suggested that first jabs should be given priority in future.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi told European Union leaders on Thursday that the bloc needed to accelerate its anti-COVID vaccination campaign and be tougher with companies that failed to meet supply commitments.

"We have to go faster, much faster," Draghi said on the first day of a summit being held via video conference. EU countries started vaccinations at the end of December, but have so far managed to inoculate far fewer citizens than in Britain and Israel. Officials have blamed the slow progress in part on supply problems with key manufacturers.

An EU official said Draghi, who took office earlier this month, told the meeting that the 27-nation union should take a tougher approach with companies that failed to meet commitments. He suggested their exports from the EU could be blocked, not just when they did not respect their supply deals, but also for sometime afterwards, the official said.

The former European Central Bank governor also said the Commission should look into buying more vaccines produced in factories outside the EU once they had been approved by the European Medicines Agency. He urged caution with plans to send doses to third countries, saying Europe was too far behind with national campaigns to launch into ambitious distribution programmes beyond its borders, the official reported.

Looking to get more people vaccinated as soon as possible, Draghi also suggested that first jabs should be given priority in future. At present many EU countries, including Italy, are following drugmaker recommendations to give people two separate vaccinations and are holding back doses as a result.