Maltese MEP Roberta Metsola has been appointed to lead the European People’s Party Group in negotiations that will seek to modify the EU approval process to tackle new variants of the COVID-19 virus.

The EPP is the largest bloc in the European Parliament, of which Metsola is first vice-president. 

“The approval process for vaccines that tackle COVID19 variants needs to be adapted to give certainty and clarity faster - without compromising our safety standards,”  Metsola said after the appointment.

“It is not an impossible task to maintain the highest possible safety and security standards while ensuring the process is streamlined for maximum efficiency. We are seeing already approved vaccines that have already undergone intense scrutiny and checks that need to be modified slightly in response to mutations or variants of the COVID-19 virus. In these cases we can and we should be able to move faster and help countries tackle the so-called third wave of the virus, which we are witnessing spread in Europe,” she added.

The European Union has been criticised for lagging behind the US and Britain in the approval and subsequent procurement of vaccines. 

In order for the vaccines to maintain their efficacy against mutations or variants of the virus that may evolve over time, adaptations to the active substance of those - already approved - vaccines may be needed.

“With different variants of the virus emerging, it is essential that we get this right and address any regulatory bottlenecks that could prevent the effective approval of vaccines for these variants. We can streamline the process and make it clearer and simpler both for vaccine developers and for European Regulatory authorities. We can do so safely, ensuring people’s confidence in vaccines by ensuring that we do not compromise on our existing high public safety standards,” concluded Metsola.