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The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD, participated in an ad-hoc meeting of EU Health Ministers to exchange views with his European counterparts and the European Commission on the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines as well as approaches throughout the EU on travel. 

It is the second meeting of EU Health Ministers since Germany took over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU on 1 July. The meeting was chaired by Mr Jens Spahn, Federal Minister of Health of Germany. The European Commission was represented by Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides and officials from the European Centre for Disease Prevention & Control were also in attendance. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the meeting was held virtually, taking the form of a videoconference. 

On the topic of the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines, Minister Donnelly said: “Ireland fully supports the goal of obtaining a broad portfolio of candidate vaccines that includes a range of different technological approaches, which gives us the best chance of securing a safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19”.

In contributing to the discussion on travel, Minister Donnelly said: “Ireland welcomes engagement on approaches to travel across Europe and is particularly supportive of initiatives to strengthen the sharing and comparability of data to inform any related policies”.