Prime Minister Sanna Marin has sent a letter to the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in which she thanked the Commission for organising the joint EU procurement of COVID-19 vaccines and urged the EU to take measures to speed up the distribution of vaccines.
According to the government communications department, Marin called on the Commission to do its utmost to ensure that pharmaceutical companies are producing vaccines as efficiently as possible and that the vaccines procured jointly by the EU can be distributed to the member states more quickly than at present.
The head of the Finnish government hopes the Commission will provide an update on the vaccine situation at the videoconference of EU leaders taking place next week.
Talks with Portugal
Prime Minister Marin also raised the issue of vaccine availability in her telephone conversation this evening with Prime Minister António Costa of Portugal, which currently holds the Presidency of the EU Council.
In addition, the prime ministers discussed the programme of the Portuguese Presidency, the main objectives of which are to accelerate economic recovery through a green and digital transition, to advance the European social pillar and to strengthen Europe's strategic autonomy.
