“The large numbers of supplies are scheduled to start in April,” said von der Leyen, adding that in a best-case scenario, companies could provide up to 50 million vaccines per month to the European Union.
The commission is proposing a series of new measures to fight the epidemic, saying the new spike in infections on the continent is “alarming”.
Europe appears to be once again the epicenter of the worldwide epidemic. Belgium is a hot spot, and many countries are also suffering from record daily infection rates.
Belgium has the highest cumulative number of 14 days for Covid-19 cases per 100,000 citizens, bypassing the Czech Republic, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
At 1,390.9 per 100,000 people, it beats even France and Spain. In all, 11,038 people have died so far due to the epidemic in Belgium.
On Tuesday, 689 people were hospitalized with Covid-19, 60 more than the record during the peak of March.
The European Commission has urged the 27 governments of the European Union to do more and in a more coordinated way to tackle the virus.
Brussels said EU governments should coordinate their testing strategies and make greater use of rapid antigen testing, despite the fact that the global supply of these groups is now shrinking.
“The situation is very dangerous, but we can still slow the spread of the virus if everyone takes on (their responsibility),” said von der Leyen.
In the Czech Republic, health officials said the increase in daily cases in the country set a new record of 15,663 on Tuesday – the equivalent of Germany, which has a population of eight times.
The total confirmed cases in the country were 284,033, more than half of which were registered in the past two weeks. So far, 2,547 people have died, with 139 deaths recorded on Monday. The Czech government tightened regulations, and imposed a nationwide curfew between 9 PM and 6 AM.
In Germany, the number of new infections recorded in one day has reached another record high. The Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s disease control agency, said that 14,964 new cases were recorded in recent days, bringing the total number since the start of the outbreak to 449,275.
Germany also suffered 27 more Covid-related deaths, bringing the total death toll to 10,098.
Poland has also set a new record for daily infections, with at least 18,800 cases, and 236 new Covid-related deaths.
On Tuesday, Italy also recorded its highest single-day epidemic infection rate – nearly 22,000 new cases – and 221 more deaths.
And protests took place in some Italian cities against the night curfew in some areas. The nationwide restrictions began this week, with gyms, swimming pools, cinemas and theaters closed. Restaurants must close before dinner hour.
The total number of confirmed cases in Italy rose to 564,778 and the death toll reached 37,700. The regions of northern Lombardy and southern Campania have witnessed the highest number of daily cases in recent days.
Even Sweden, which avoided a national lockdown and generally imposed much milder measures than other European countries, is now urging people to avoid shopping malls, stores and public transport.
The Commission said last week it would purchase up to 22 million antigen tests to meet the “urgent needs” of the European Union, and is now urging countries to buy more through a common procurement scheme.
It also said that countries should have common testing requirements for incoming travelers, including tests on arrival if tests are not available in the country of departure. He called for harmonized quarantine rules.
Brussels also urged governments to share more data about the outbreak in their countries and the situation in their healthcare settings.
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