Regional and local governments have been at the front line fighting the health, economic and social consequences of the pandemic. They are now committed to support the vaccination strategy to save lives and to get Europe back on its feet. This emerged from a debate on the COVID-19 pandemic vaccination campaign with Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, Regional Director for Europe, World Health Organization.
Dr. Kluge said that the development in vaccines in less than one year since the pandemic outbreak was a stunning European achievement. He stressed the need to explain to people the aim of the vaccine and therefore to protect the most vulnerable and the most exposed (and not yet to eliminate or eradicate the virus). He spoke against national competition and said that if countries come together in research, production, procurement and delivery unprecedented speed will be achieved.
Olgierd Geblewicz, President of West Pomerania Region and of the EPP-CoR Group expressed the commitment of LRAs to overcome the pandemic. "As the level closest to the citizens, we are ready to support the national vaccination strategies and campaigns with transparent, targeted and reliable communication." With respect to the need of cooperation Geblewicz said "We trust in the common European approach for the procurement of vaccines. The alternative would be a total chaos, resulting in 27 Member States competing for vaccines thus leaving many Europeans behind. Therefore, now is the moment for us to express our full support for the leadership of the Commission in urging the manufacturers to step up the production and speed up the supply of vaccines."
Isabel Diaz Ayuso, President of the Community of Madrid, spoke about several measures taken to fight the pandemic including the setting up of a new hospital. Calling for further joint action Diaz Ayuso said "We must all do whatever we can within our power to increase the number of vaccines. This is key to show that the EU is a project that works for all citizens and, above all, for the most vulnerable."
Brigitta Sacrédeus, Member of Dalarna Regional Council said that it is important that Member States ensure that the public is provided with complete information on the authorization, availability and use of covid-19 vaccines. She recalled that in 19 out of 27 Member States, LRAs are responsible for health system. "This implies that we need to work together, and support each other by sharing best practices"
Joke Schauvliege, Member of the Flemish Parliament said that the COVID-19 crisis has magnified many of the known problems in the rural areas such as access to quality health services, education and digitalisation. Appealing for policies to target rural areas Schauvliege said "I am convinced that the twin digital and green transitions can be a game changer and bring opportunities to support rural recovery, so that people can rediscover the attractiveness of the rural life.”
Rastislav Trnka, Chairman of Košice Self – Governing Region said that only by joining our forces we can be successful in returning to life as we knew it before pandemic. He appealed for stable supply in vaccines explaining that there was the capacity in terms of roll out.
Franz Schausberger, Representative of Salzburg said that the experiences with handling the pandemic and the common vaccination strategy must be used as an opportunity to comprehensively evaluate the reactions of the EU, the Member States and the regions and municipalities, as well as to draw the correct conclusions for the future in medical and economic terms , political, administrative and legal competence.
The European Committee of the Regions is set to adopt a resolution on the COVID-19 pandemic vaccination campaign which stresses that many local and regional authorities have competence in health matters and are ready to support vaccine deployment – in particular in terms of logistics – and participate in campaigns and outreach activities to increase citizens' confidence and take-up and to accelerate the vaccination process