The European Union has offered free COVID-19 vaccines to China to help Beijing contain a mass outbreak of the illness, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
The initiative is part of efforts by health commissioner Stella Kyriakides to arrange a European response to the prospect of a wave of infections after Beijing ditched its so-called “zero Covid” policy, the report added, citing EU commission officials, speaking under the condition of anonymity.
“Commissioner Kyriakides has reached out to her Chinese counterparts to offer solidarity and support, including public health expertise as well as through variant-adapted EU vaccine donations,” the report quoted one official as saying.
At the same time, authorities around the world are imposing or considering curbs on travelers from China as COVID-19 cases there surge following its relaxation of “zero-COVID” rules. China has rejected criticism of its COVID data.
And European Union government health officials will hold talks on Wednesday on a coordinated response to the surge in COVID-19 infections in China, the Swedish EU presidency said on Monday, after December talks concluded with no decisions on the matter.
