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Especially children with pre-existing conditions to be vaccinated quickly now

Following discussions with the company BioNTech, the European Commission has announced that the delivery of the special doses of the vaccine for children to the European Union will be brought forward. Thirteen million doses can be delivered to the European Union as early as this year. From January, there will then be twenty million doses per month.

"Vaccination is particularly important for children who are at increased risk of a severe course in the event of infection, such as children with Down's syndrome, heart defects or lung diseases. That is why I am very happy about this good news. It is now extremely important to set the right priorities. Vaccination of children without an increased risk should be possible after consultation with the parents and, as far as possible, the children themselves. But priority must be given to children with pre-existing conditions," said MEP and health policy spokesperson of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP-Christian Democrats) Peter Liese.

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Vaccine can make important contribution to pandemic control but I do not advise anyone to remain unvaccinated for the next few weeks because waiting for Novavax


The American company Novavax, which also produces in Europe, for example in Sweden and the Czech Republic, has just applied to the European Medicines Agency for marketing authorisation for its COVID-19 vaccine. This step had been long expected, as Novavax had already published good clinical trial results in the spring. Unfortunately, the company was not able to ensure the necessary quality of the vaccine in its production facilities, so it kept postponing the marketing authorisation application.

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Dose for children one third of regular dose / Vaccinate children with pre-existing conditions quickly

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has just recommended approval of the corona vaccine from BioNTech and Pfizer for five to eleven year old children. So far, the vaccine has been approved for adolescents aged twelve and older. The formal approval by the European Commission will follow soon. MEP and health policy spokesperson of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP, Christian Democrats), Peter Liese, welcomed the decision. "With corona numbers rising sharply, it is urgent that a safe and effective vaccine is now also available for children, in particular  with pre-existing. Children with Down's syndrome, a heart defect or lung diseases, for example, have a greatly increased risk in some cases and should be vaccinated as soon as possible in view of the danger of infection with Covid-19. That is why it is important that the vaccine for the children now also comes into the practices promptly, so that they can be immunised quickly. In my opinion, the paediatricians should decide on prioritisation, as they know their little patients best and can thus act quickly and unbureaucratically," said Liese, who as a doctor has worked in a paediatric clinic himself.

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The glass is more than half full but there is still much to do

Climate neutrality is the new normal / Efforts for 2030 absolutely not enough / EU legislation must focus more on getting third countries to make greater efforts


"The glass is definitely more than half full, but there is still a lot to do." This is how Peter Liese MEP and environmental spokesperson of the largest group in the European Parliament (EPP-Christian Democrats), Dr Peter Liese commented on the outcome of the climate conference in Glasgow. "It is very positive that climate neutrality is now accepted by all. It is the new normal. When EU leaders decided on climate neutrality for the EU in 2019 during the climate conference in Madrid, we were almost alone in the world. In the meantime, not only Japan, South Korea, the USA and Australia have joined in, but also an emerging country like South Africa wants to be climate neutral by 2050. This should also be a model for EU member states like Poland, which have not yet decided to take this step themselves. Even if their date is too late, it is an important step that Russia and India have also decided to become climate neutral. However, it remains problematic that China does not want to be CO2-neutral before 2060. This is clearly too late and the European Parliament is emphatically demanding that all climate gases be included in the target, as is the case with the other states. Not only CO2, but also methane and other climate-damaging gases," said Liese, who was also deputy head of the European Parliament's delegation in Glasgow.

  1. Climate conference in Glasgow
  2. FDA recommends emergency approval for BioNTech Pfizer vaccine for 5-11 year old children
  3. European Commission's climate package can be the BioNTech vaccination against high energy prices
  4. Warning of shortages in diagnostic medical devices - European Commission proposes extended transition periods for in vitro diagnostic medical devices