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ROME, March 19 (Reuters) - European Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen called for a greater openness and
reciprocity on vaccine exports, speaking in a newspaper
interview about an ongoing row with Britain and the United
States over vaccine deliveries.
"I ask for greater openness as Europe is among the regions
in the world that exports the most, but reciprocity is needed,"
she told Italian daily la Repubblica.
She added that the European Union was in contact with the
United Kingdom over vaccine exports but declined to give details
of her talks with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Von der Leyen said the issue of reciprocity and the required
mechanism would be discussed with other European countries at a
meeting next Thursday.
The EU president also said she was "extremely confident"
that Europe's goal of vaccinating 70% of its adult population by
the end of the summer would be reached despite the recent
suspensions and delays of the AstraZeneca vaccine after
reports of blood clots in people who had received the shot.
She added that Russia's Sputnik vaccine was still under
review and that there was no evidence as yet of production
capacity for the vaccine, a detail required for approval by
Europe's EMA medicines regulator.
(Reporting by Giulia Segreti
Editing by David Goodman)
