"I wrote, with President Ursula von der Leyen, to the European Union Heads of State and Government to underline the importance of combining efforts and involving the industry to increase the production capacity and supply of vaccines in the European Union", he revealed today António Costa in his personal account of the social media Twitter.

In the same message, António Costa said that he and Ursula von de Leyen also warned European heads of state and government that it is "essential to support Commission initiatives already underway" so that Member States are "prepared for possible new strains of this virus and future public health risks".

On Tuesday, the Portuguese Prime Minister met with the executive president of the pharmaceutical multinational Astrazeneca, having received guarantees to reinforce the production capacity of vaccines against covid-19 to meet the delivery schedule in the European Union.

In that meeting with Pascal Soriot, Astrazeneca's global CEO, according to António Costa, this multinational "reiterated its commitment" to "strengthen its production capacity in Europe, in order to meet the schedule of vaccine deliveries to the European Union".

"Every day of delay in the vaccination process is a lost day and there are lives that are put at risk", noted the leader of the Portuguese government.

According to the Prime Minister of Portugal, a country that currently preside the Council of the European Union, "AstraZeneca will supply the European Union with nine million additional doses of its anti-covid vaccine, for a total of 40 million doses in the first quarter, an increase of 30 percent over the company's previous proposal".

The leader of the Portuguese executive added that he continues "to work together with the European Commission, in this which is another step in the long marathon for the protection of the life and health of Europeans".