Vaccinating the world is a necessity to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.

Europe has from the very beginning of this crisis, taken on its responsibility towards the global community extremely seriously. For us it was never about the EU first, vaccine solidarity being our trademark from the outset with a strong commitment to achieving the target of 70% global vaccination by the end of September 2022.

Today, the reality is that many low- and lower-middle-income countries still have a long way to go to meeting this target. In Africa for example, our sister continent, only 4% of the population is vaccinated.

This puts us before an unprecedented challenge – but together, we can and must rise to it.

Our Member States are in a position to contribute significantly to saving lives and put an end to the pandemic across the world. This is thanks due in no small part to the success of the EU’s Vaccine Strategy.

We have built a diversified portfolio of vaccines of over 4 billion doses of safe and effective  lifesaving vaccines for EU citizens and citizens across the world.

Over 800 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been delivered to EU Member States so far, allowing for the full vaccination of over 290 million EU citizens.

It is through this spirit of solidarity and coordination that we fulfilled our promise to vaccinate 70% of the EU adult population against COVID-19 by the end of the summer.

Furthermore, we have secured enough doses to cover our population, and to share with others.

The EU and its Member States, acting collectively as Team Europe, have committed to vaccine equity and solidarity. As the global pharmacy and the world’s largest exporter of vaccines, we will continue helping the rest of the world. We have exported half of the vaccines produced in the EU – 900 million doses so far.

And, we are leading with over €3 billion in support to COVAX, the global initiative aimed at ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines across over 140 countries.

We, as Team Europe, and particularly our Member States, must deliver on our commitment to support low and middle-income countries by sharing more than 250 million doses by the end of 2021. At this point, only around 50 million doses have been shared by Member States. Now is the time to step up and deliver also on this commitment. As Commission, we will do our share and will mobilise resources for a new donation of another 200 million doses by the middle of next year.

In Europe, we are on the path towards post-pandemic recovery. The improving health situation and the easing of restrictions are putting our economies back in motion, with EU GDP now forecast to grow by 4.8% in 2021 and by 4.5% in 2022.

But, this situation is fragile. While the pandemic continues, the global recovery remains uneven. Delayed global vaccination increases the risk for new, more infectious and dangerous variants to emerge.

COVID-19 does not recognise borders. No one will be safe until everyone is safe. This is not just a cliché. It is not only a moral imperative, but it is a public health and geopolitical necessity.

We remain committed to facilitating and supporting donations. To help countries plan the rollout, transparency on production and delivery schedules is essential.

It is only by increasing vaccinations worldwide that will allow for the resumption of travel, a return to thriving economies and a life free from fear of COVID-19.

Beyond donations, we are investing in local manufacturing of vaccines and medicines to address structural needs in Africa to help tackle the bottleneck of vaccination campaigns on the continent and reinforce preparedness and response capacities.

Team Europe has a crucial role in spearheading global vaccine solidarity, in ending the pandemic, and in building back better. This includes reinforcing the global health security architecture and strengthen health threats preparedness at global level. This is a priority for us and an integral part of our European Health Union.

A concrete example is the launch of the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, HERA, which will help boost international cooperation and the global emergency response to future cross border health threats.

We can only overcome this pandemic together.

And we can only better prepare for the next ones if we cooperate globally.

Stella Kyriakides is the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety & Jutta Urpilainen is the European Commissioner for International Partnerships.