About two months ago, a vaccination campaign was launched in Europe, but its pace leaves much to be desired. The supply of vaccines jointly purchased by the EU countries is only creaking. In some countries outside the EU, such as the UK or Serbia, vaccination is much faster. The European press is talking about how best to organize the campaign.
More flexibility!
Eesti Paevaleht writes about how the vaccination process could be accelerated:
“We should not adhere too strictly to priority lists. If the people on the list cannot be contacted, and the vaccine is sufficient, then you should offer vaccination to ordinary citizens. In addition to phone calls, it is necessary to use digital solutions. You also need to not be afraid of bold decisions — and try to vaccinate as many people as possible with the available vaccines. Those who have already had a corona do not need a second vaccination — you should also think about giving up the stocks of the second dose of vaccinations. … We could also ask them to lend us the doses of the vaccine that are due to us right now. So, for example, in warehouses in Germany, a fair supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine is stored, because people are afraid to get vaccinated with it.”
Copy the UK plan?
Many European countries are looking with envy at the UK, where, thanks to the pace of vaccination, collective immunity will be achieved in May. According to Visa, due to the rules that exist between the EU countries, Europe will not be able to go the same way:
“The UK has an advantage that no other European country has. … Portugal will be able to achieve collective immunity of 70 percent only if it cooperates with all other EU countries, as provided for by the general mechanism of interaction. In other words, we are talking not only about 14 million vaccinations for the Portuguese but also about 600 million vaccinations for 300 million people from the European Union. And this is very, very difficult.”
Effective measures to save tourism!
Turkey relies almost exclusively on the cheap vaccine of the Chinese manufacturer Sinovac. But this is clearly not enough, “ Milliyet believes:
“Last year, Turkey’s tourism revenues fell by 65 percent. … In the new year, the season, of course, will be more lively than in the past, that’s for sure. But first, Turkey should have achieved the lifting of restrictions on tourism from EU countries. Then it would be good for her to achieve a level of vaccination comparable to competitors-Spain, Greece, and Portugal. … Corona shots aren’t that cheap — some cost $18 per dose. So far, Turkey has bought the vaccine much cheaper, but if you make a cost estimate, you should also take into account the billions of dollars that usually come to the country through tourism. … It turns out that the dollars generated by tourism are a magical money tree that will grow out of the coins that will have to be spent on vaccines.”
