* EU urges better testing, more use of rapid antigen kits
* EU prolongs duty-free import of medical gear, wants to buy
more
* Brussels urges faster border checks to avoid shortages of
goods
* Supply of vaccines to start in earnest in April- von der
Leyen
(Recasts; adds quotes, details)
By Francesco Guarascio
BRUSSELS, Oct 28 (Reuters) - The European Commission
proposed new tax and trade measures on Wednesday to fight the
COVID-19 pandemic in the European Union and avoid shortages of
goods and medical gear, saying the new rise in infections on the
continent was "alarming".
As Europe again becomes the world's epicentre of the
pandemic, the EU executive urged the 27 EU governments to do
more and in a more coordinated fashion to tackle the virus.
"The situation is very serious, but we can still slow down
the spread of the virus if everybody takes their
responsibility," European Commission President Ursula von der
Leyen told a news conference.
To avoid risks of new shortages of medical equipment, which
dogged the bloc at the beginning of the pandemic in spring, the
commission said it had launched joint procurement for gear
needed to inoculate people, such as syringes and disinfectants.
It also extended until April a temporary suspension of
customs duties and sales tax on the import of medical equipment.
EU countries could also exempt COVID-19 testing kits and
vaccines from sales tax, the commission said.
In an additional move aimed at avoiding further disruptions
to the EU internal market, Brussels proposed fast-tracking
checks on EU internal borders for goods transported by rail,
water or air.
Rapid checks were introduced for goods transported by road
after internal trade was disrupted at the start of the pandemic
due to border controls introduced within the border-free
Schengen area to prevent the spread of the virus.
TESTING
To better trace the spread of infections, Brussels said EU
governments should coordinate their testing strategies and make
greater use of rapid antigen tests, despite the fact that the
global supply for these kits is now tightening.
It said the "current shortfalls in testing capacity"
required swift action.
Last week, the EU executive said it would direct 100 million
euros ($118 million) to buy up to 22 million antigen tests to
meet EU countries' "immediate needs". It is now urging states to
buy more through a joint procurement scheme.
It also said states should have common testing requirements
for incoming travellers, including tests on arrival if tests
were not available in the country of departure. It called for
coordinated rules on quarantines.
Brussels also urged governments to share more data on
outbreaks in their countries and on the situation in their
healthcare settings.
All national applications that allow the operators to trace
people exposed to the virus should also be made interoperable
across the EU, the commission said.
VACCINES
Von der Leyen said the delivery of potential vaccines to EU
countries could begin in earnest in April, and vaccination
strategies should give priority to the most vulnerable
.
"The big numbers of supplies are due to start in April," von
der Leyen told a news conference, adding that in the best-case
scenario companies could deliver up to 50 million vaccines a
month to the EU.
Earlier this week an EU Commission official told EU
diplomats that not enough vaccines would be available until 2022
to vaccinate all the 450 million people in the EU.
The commission said on Wednesday it had already spent in
upfront payments about 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) to secure
potential vaccines from AstraZeneca, Sanofi
and Johnson & Johnson. That suggested it had made a
downpayment worth 360 million euros to Johnson & Johnson, a
figure which it had not previously revealed.
It said exploratory talks with Moderna, Pfizer
and CureVac involved a further 1.45 billion
euros in upfront payments.
($1 = 0.8461 euros)
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio, editing by
Robin Emmott, Hugh Lawson and Nick Macfie)
Astrazeneca (AZN)
