BRUSSELS, March 24 (Reuters) - The pandemic is getting worse
in many European countries, with the numbers of COVID-19
infections, hospitalisations and deaths on the rise, European
Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides told a news conference on
Wednesday.
In response, the Commission said it was tightening rules for
exports of COVID-19 vaccines made in the EU.
"The revision of the export transparency mechanism comes
when the situation is alarming in many member states,"
Kyriakides said. "19 countries are now reporting increases in
the number of cases ... 8 are reporting an increase in the
number of deaths," she said.
"The situation is concerning because we have seen the
increase in the number of (coronavirus) variants in the recent
weeks," she said.
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski and Phil Blenkinsop)