EU and Spain in the global action plan against COVID-19

In the COVID-19 Global Action Meeting, convened by US Secretary of State Blinken and gathering the EU, represented by Commissioner Urpilainen, and other partner countries, participants discussed yesterday a ‘COVID-19 Global Action Plan’.

The objective is to help coordinate actions and mobilise resources in six priority areas in relation to the global COVID-19 response to bring an end to the pandemic by the end of 2022: get shots in arms, bolster supply chain resilience, address information gaps, support health care workers, ensure availability of treatments and testing where it is most needed and strengthen the global health security architecture.

The EU and its Member States, acting as Team Europe, have been at the forefront of efforts to address the pandemic globally and have committed to co-lead this Global Action Plan, in line with Team Europe’s ongoing response to the pandemic. The EU will continue to act in the six priority areas and, in particular, has offered to co-lead, together with its partners, actions to address vaccine hesitancy and combat misinformation, get vaccines into weapons, strengthen supply chain resilience and strengthen the global health security architecture.

The Vice President of the Commission Josep Borrell said:

“We fully endorse the COVID-19 Global Action Plan presented today and are determined to play a leading role to ensure its successful implementation. With 1.8 billion doses of vaccines made in Europe delivered to 165 countries and 46 billion euros mobilised to tackle the health and socio-economic impact of the crisis, the EU has demonstrated its leadership and ability to make a decisive contribution to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. As there is still a long way to go, we are ready and willing to do more, together with our global partners”.

Spain, for its part, offers its experience. It has been able to combine a high percentage of vaccination of its own population with being one of the main vaccine donors. It is also the second largest donor of vaccines in Latin America, and vaccines have also been distributed in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Southern Neighborhood and Asia.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, reiterated Spain’s commitment to a united and multilateral response to the pandemic and to the objectives of vaccinating the world’s population at the ministerial meeting convened by the Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, to analyze the Global Priority Action Plan for the fight against COVID-19.

The Foreign Minister offered Spain’s leadership in coordinating the donor response to COVID-19 in two lines of action, the fight against disinformation and support for health workers, and in two geographical regions: Latin America and the Caribbean and the Sahel.

Finally, Minister José Manuel Albares stressed the need to reform the system of global health governance and to strengthen the leadership of the World Health Organization to prevent future pandemics.

Source

European Commission

Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y Cooperación

More information

COVID-19 research and public health, EU priorities