EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans has admitted that the European Union made mistakes in devising a coronavirus vaccination strategy for member countries.
"It is true that mistakes were made when ordering the vaccines in Brussels as well as in the member states," Timmermans told Germany's Tagesspiegel newspaper in an interview released Sunday.
“I am ready to take stock at the end of the pandemic - then we can see what we did wrong and what we did right," he said.
The first thing to do, however, is to ensure that “all of Europe gets vaccine,” Timmermans said.
A European approach is "also in the interests of richer member states" like Germany, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen added in the interview.
1.4 billion doses ordered
The European Commission has ordered a total of at least 1.4 billion doses of the four coronavirus vaccines approved in the EU, which in theory is more than enough for the bloc's 450 million residents.
However, the commission has come under criticism for its hesitant approach and strategic errors in ordering vaccines.
The distribution of vaccine doses among members is viewed as unfair by some EU capitals.
