According to the French publication Le Figaro, the statement of European Commissioner Thierry Breton on the refusal to grant permission to use the Russian vaccine Sputnik V shows the ideological approach of the EU, which stands above pragmatism and public health in Europe
“You don’t need a PhD in epidemiology to understand Europe’s failure. Vaccination is not something we can afford to run at a relaxed pace. It is a tense run that condemns the slowest to watch the biological, social and economic deaths of people who could have been saved if the situation had been taken more seriously”, – the paper writes.
The paper notes that the Commissioner’s refusal to allow Europeans to use foreign vaccines such as Sputnik V (a study published in The Lancet found it to be over 90% effective) demonstrates once again that ideological fanaticism and protectionism are being placed above pragmatism and public health.
“The complete lack of self-criticism on the part of the European leadership does not bode well for the future. The refusal to acknowledge mistakes in the European vaccination process hinders the effectiveness of our agencies. It is easy to see why this efficiency is of little concern to our leadership. They do not have to personally pay for the mistakes. They have nothing to gain or lose from the speed of vaccination. Unlike citizens, it will not have to bear the burden of an artificially slow and debt-laden economy”, – says Le Figaro.