European regulator disagrees with US president: COVID-19 pandemic is not over

An official with the European Union's drug regulator said Tuesday that the COVID-19 pandemic is not over and that a planned cold season vaccination campaign in the region is key to combating it, Reuters reported.

In doing so, the EU regulator expresses its disagreement with U.S. President Joe Biden's statement announcing the end of the pandemic. 

"We in Europe still consider the pandemic as ongoing and it's important that member states prepare for rollout of the vaccines and especially the adaptive vaccines to prevent further spread of this disease in Europe," Steffen Thirstrup, chief medical officer of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), said in reference to vaccines targeting specific strains of the virus.

He was asked to comment on the U.S. president's statement that the pandemic is over.

"I cannot obviously answer why President Biden came to that conclusion," Thirstrup said.

The World Health Organization said the pandemic remains a global emergency, but an end may be just around the corner if countries use the tools at their disposal.

During a media briefing, EMA officials reiterated a call made last week by the agency's executive director, Emer Cooke, that people in Europe should take advantage of any COVID-19 vaccine that is available and recommended to them in the coming months.

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