What can Europe learn from COVID-19 drug and vaccine development?

The first COVID-19 vaccines received approval from regulators less than a year after the WHO declared a global pandemic in March 2020. This speed was undoubtedly a triumph. At the same time, the EU’s early approach to purchasing and rolling-out vaccines was criticised as slow and haphazard.

As the pandemic progressed, the EU’s response grew more effective – yet what lessons can be learned? What did the EU get right, and what did it get wrong in terms of drug and vaccine development during the pandemic? What lessons can be learned for the next pandemic?

We put some of YOUR questions on this topic to a panel of experts:

•  Olga Solomon, Head of Unit, Medicines: Policy, Authorisation and Monitoring, EU Commission
•  Virginia Acha, Global Lead, Global Regulatory Policy, MSD

How is the EU preparing for the next pandemic? What could Europe have done better during the COVID-19 pandemic? Could the vaccine development process for other diseases be sped up because of the lessons learned? Let us know your thoughts and comments in the form below and we’ll take them to policymakers and experts for their reactions!

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