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Posted by: Mazur Rodica

News / International

26 Feb. 2021 / 09:27

Leaders of the 27 EU member nations agreed to keep “tight restrictions” on public life and free movement

COVID-19 is here to stay, France and Germany said on Thursday, after European Union leaders discussed ways to fight new variants of the virus, step up inoculations and save Europe’s tourism industry from another ruinous summer, Reuters reports.

Leaders of the 27 EU member nations agreed in a video conference to keep “tight restrictions” on public life and free movement as the bloc races against the emergence of new variants that are holding back an economic rebound.

“We have to prepare for a situation where we have to continuously vaccinate for a longer period of time, maybe over years, due to new coronavirus variants, akin to the situation we know from the flu,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the EU “will have to live with this virus” over the long term.

Italy’s new prime minister, former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, called for a much tougher stance from the EU towards pharmaceutical companies producing the vaccines after a stuttering start to deliveries of jabs.

The executive European Commission told the leaders that 51.5 million doses of vaccines had so far been delivered across the EU and 29.17 million administered, with about 5% of citizens having had their first dose.

The Commission and EU countries have come under fire for missteps in their joint inoculation programme and a slow rollout of shots that has lagged badly behind Israel, Britain and the United States.

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