At the European Committee of the Regions Plenary session this week, local leaders, including Francisco Igea, Vice-President of Castilla y León region, will discuss Europe’s vaccine strategy with the World Health Organization. The debate will be streamed live online.

Local and regional leaders will debate the progress and challenges of the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 and the potential role that regions and cities should play. Leaders are also asking for transparency.

Francisco Igea, who is also a medical doctor, says:

“We need legislation to ban opaque contracts with pharmaceuticals. Confidentiality clauses in the middle of a pandemic undermine trust, delay vaccinations, and cost lives. As US Supreme Court judge Louis Brandeis once said, ‘sunlight is the best disinfectant’. Transparency is essential, especially in hard times.”

Igea and other local leaders will discuss the Covid-19 pandemic vaccination campaign with Dr. Hans Henri P. Kluge, Regional Director for Europe at the World Health Organization, on 4 February from 15.30 to 16.30. The debate can be followed via livestream on the website of the European Committee of the Regions.

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