The failure of the EU vaccine is due to the fact that it did not “shoot at the stars,” says Macron

PARIS (Reuters) – European leaders could not see COVID-19 vaccines being developed as soon as they were developed, which is why launches in the EU lagged behind other countries, the president said. Frenchman Emmanuel Macron in an interview aired this Wednesday.

“All the experts said, ‘Never in the history of mankind has a vaccine been developed in less than a year,'” Macron told Greek television channel ERT.

“We did not shoot at the stars. That should be a lesson for all of us. We were wrong about lack of ambition, lack of madness, I would say, to say, ‘It’s possible, let’s do it,’ “Macron said, in a rare admission of pandemic failure.

European Union leaders are struggling to speed up vaccinations, chasing countries like Britain and United Sattes and facing supply delays.

Macron himself has been criticized at home for a hesitant deployment that has been hampered by bureaucracy and public distrust of vaccines.

“We didn’t think it would happen so quickly … You can give it to the Americans, already in the summer of 2020 they said, let’s get all the stops out and do it,” Macron said.

“As for us, we didn’t go fast enough, strong enough. We thought the vaccines would take a long time to take off. “

The EU tightened surveillance of coronavirus vaccine exports on Wednesday, allowing it to block shipments to countries with higher inoculation rates such as Britain or that do not share the doses they produce.