The past year was a tough one for Israel and for Europe, with the entire continent overwhelmed by a once-in-a-lifetime global pandemic. Gradually, the European Union is getting back on its feet and ready to reopen.
There has been a lot of talk about the EU’s ostensible delays in rapidly vaccinating its citizens against COVID-19. It’s true that in the beginning not everything went as smoothly as we had hoped for, especially in comparison with Israel’s impressively effective vaccination drive.
But the EU recovered quickly from the initial setback and is now making sure that all Europeans, and millions around the world who need our assistance, are being inoculated. We’ve dramatically increased the pace at which our citizens are being vaccinated, with now more than three million vaccinated every day. And we continue to work feverishly to speed up the process even more, including by looking to approve additional vaccines.
Last week, we reached the milestone of 250 million vaccinations in the EU. Nearly half of the EU’s adult population has already received their first dose, and more than 80 million Europeans are now fully vaccinated. By the end of July, we will have enough doses to vaccinate 70% of adults in the EU.
Because of the speedy progress in our vaccination campaigns, the European Commission wants to allow nonessential travel to the EU for vaccinated people from third countries. On May 6, the European Council added Israel to the list of countries for which travel restrictions should be lifted.
Israel is now one of just eight nations for whose citizens member states are asked to gradually lift travel restrictions. That means that most Israelis will soon be able to visit their friends and families in Europe again, after a long time during which this was impossible.
The time has come for “cross-border friendships to rekindle – safely,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said recently. To facilitate travel, the EU has approved the “EU Digital COVID Certificate” to facilitate free movement in the EU, similar to Israel’s so-called Green Pass. Our certificate will be in use by July 1.
ISRAEL’S RECORD-BREAKING vaccination drive is indeed remarkable. We recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of EU-Israel research and innovation collaboration, and will continue to work together with Israeli officials, civil society organizations and private companies to develop innovative technologies in many sectors, including health.
The EU and Israel cooperated closely during the pandemic. Nine Israeli companies and organizations were granted €4.5 million from our Horizon 2020 program to take part in collaborative projects in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
And the European Investment Bank signed a €50m. collaboration agreement with the Israel Innovation Authority to develop therapies for COVID-19 and other unmet medical needs.
As much as we look with admiration at Israel’s quick vaccination operation, it would be wrong to compare it with that of the EU. While Israel is a relatively small country, the EU needs to make sure doses are administered to 450 million people across the 27 countries, in a fair and equitable way.
It also bears mentioning that while Israel has incontestable scientific capabilities, it has not yet developed or produced any vaccines.
“Most vaccination technologies have been initiated or developed in Europe. Most of the doses with which Israel embarked on its mass vaccination program were sent from Belgium,” European Council President Charles Michel noted recently.
Indeed, we’re proud to say that the more than 12 million vaccination doses that have been delivered to Israel were all produced in the European Union.
We welcome the fact that Israel has started to inoculate Palestinian workers. However, more could be done to make sure everyone is safe. Due to the interconnected reality on the ground, it is clearly in everyone’s interest to ensure Palestinians are getting the shots as well.
The EU and its member states are a leading contributor to the COVAX facility, which has also delivered vaccines to the Palestinians, and will continue to engage with Israel, the Palestinian Authority and key stakeholders on this issue.
No one will be safe until everyone is safe – this has been our battle cry since the early days of the pandemic. And this is why the EU is leading the global campaign to guarantee that no one is left behind. In addition to our contribution to COVAX, we plan to donate at least 100 million vaccine doses to non-EU member states by the end of the year.
And as opposed to some other major players, the EU exports vaccines to third countries. So far, more than 150 million doses have been exported from the EU to 43 countries around the world, including 10 million to our friends in India. Indeed, the EU is the biggest global provider of COVID-19 vaccines.
Team Europe – EU Union institutions, member states and the European Investment Bank – has teamed up with the World Health Organization, UNICEF and international health organizations to address the pandemic, including by donating €2.5 billion to the COVAX facility. This facility covers 102 countries, including 61 vulnerable nations that receive vaccines for free, and four billion people.
Together with our partners in Israel and elsewhere, we will win the war against COVID-19. And as Michel said, “Europe will be a major ally in freeing the world from this virus.”
The writer is the EU ambassador to Israel.